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The authorities of the US state of Massachusetts have returned $140,000 worth of cryptocurrency to 69-year-old Alexei Madan, which he lost when investing in the SpireBit fraudulent scheme.
Investigators seized a total of $269,000 from the SpireBit crypto wallet. The confiscation took place during the investigation of a fraudulent scheme aimed at Russian-speaking elderly people. Most of the confiscated funds are already being distributed among four victims living in Massachusetts.
"How will you feel if all your money was stolen and you no longer hoped to return it, and then you are fully refunded the entire amount? I am overjoyed, and at the same time shocked", Aleksey Madan thanked the police.
The creators of SpireBit lured victims to the platform through social media ads, promising great returns on investment. The ads used a deepfake with the image of Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, who allegedly supported SpireBit. The videos were published in Russian.
Last year, NPR journalists contacted SpireBit via Telegram for comment. In response, the management stated that cryptocurrency trading is volatile, and the company's activities are "regulated in accordance with the laws of the country where the main office is located." Now the SpireBit account in Telegram has already been deleted.
NPR journalists tried to get on the trail of SpireBit. However, the photos of the people listed as company executives turned out to be stock, and the LinkedIn profiles were fake. SpireBit's alleged London address appears to belong to a kitchenware company.
Following NPR's notification, UK financial regulators issued a warning about SpireBit. The journalistic investigation caught the attention of Massachusetts authorities, who sued SpireBit in December on behalf of the registered legal entity SBT Investments.
Investigators posed as a SpireBit client and were able to identify the organization's cryptocurrency wallets. In May, law enforcement officers obtained a court order to freeze SpireBit's assets on the largest crypto exchange Binance.
Another victim of these scammers was 75-year-old Naum Lantsman from Los Angeles, who lost all his savings in the amount of $340,000. His family reported the theft to the California Attorney General's Office, but an official investigation has not yet begun.
Investigators seized a total of $269,000 from the SpireBit crypto wallet. The confiscation took place during the investigation of a fraudulent scheme aimed at Russian-speaking elderly people. Most of the confiscated funds are already being distributed among four victims living in Massachusetts.
"How will you feel if all your money was stolen and you no longer hoped to return it, and then you are fully refunded the entire amount? I am overjoyed, and at the same time shocked", Aleksey Madan thanked the police.
The creators of SpireBit lured victims to the platform through social media ads, promising great returns on investment. The ads used a deepfake with the image of Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, who allegedly supported SpireBit. The videos were published in Russian.
Last year, NPR journalists contacted SpireBit via Telegram for comment. In response, the management stated that cryptocurrency trading is volatile, and the company's activities are "regulated in accordance with the laws of the country where the main office is located." Now the SpireBit account in Telegram has already been deleted.
NPR journalists tried to get on the trail of SpireBit. However, the photos of the people listed as company executives turned out to be stock, and the LinkedIn profiles were fake. SpireBit's alleged London address appears to belong to a kitchenware company.
Following NPR's notification, UK financial regulators issued a warning about SpireBit. The journalistic investigation caught the attention of Massachusetts authorities, who sued SpireBit in December on behalf of the registered legal entity SBT Investments.
Investigators posed as a SpireBit client and were able to identify the organization's cryptocurrency wallets. In May, law enforcement officers obtained a court order to freeze SpireBit's assets on the largest crypto exchange Binance.
Another victim of these scammers was 75-year-old Naum Lantsman from Los Angeles, who lost all his savings in the amount of $340,000. His family reported the theft to the California Attorney General's Office, but an official investigation has not yet begun.
