The California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI) has received a complaint from a California resident regarding https://www.fxtmtd.com an offshore cryptocurrency trading platform.
A California resident told DFPI she met someone online who persuaded her to invest into cryptocurrency for profit. “Ryan” introduced her to Coinbase and the FXTM website https://www.fxtmtd.com. The victim bought Tether through Coinbase and sent it to FXTM on several occasions. At first, it looked like she was making profit. However, when she requested to withdraw some of her funds from FXTM, she was asked to pay 35% in taxes in the form of crypto before they let me withdraw any funds. The website also froze her account and told her she could not use the cryptocurrency assets within her FXTM account to pay the taxes, but rather, the taxes had to come from her personal bank account.
The victim then bought more Tether and sent the “taxes” to the website. FXTM verified receipt of her funds and assured her current asset would be accessible within 1-3 business days. After 3 days, the victim inquired about her withdrawal request. This time, the website told her her account was in an “abnormal state” and asked for an additional $80,000 to unfreeze her account. At this point, the victim became very suspicious of FXTM and stopped any further contact with them. Her total loss was $163,549. These allegations have not been verified by DFPI.
This appears to be what is commonly called an “Advance Fee scheme,” which can take many forms, as discussed here: https://www.fbi.gov/scams-and-safety/common-scams-and-crimes/advance-fee-schemes.
The DFPI urges consumers to exercise extreme caution before responding to any solicitation offering investment or financial services. To check whether an investment or financial service provider is licensed in California, consumers may contact the Department for questions or inquiries at [email protected] or call toll-free at (866) 275-2677. If a consumer believes a person or company has violated state law or acted improperly regarding a consumer financial product or service, they may file a formal complaint with the DFPI at https://dfpi.ca.gov//file-a-complaint/.
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