He Promised Mining Rigs, But Ran Away With $ 15 M: The Story of a 20-Year-Old Man Arrested for a Scam Scheme

Lately, the crypto sector has been assaulted with cybercrimes such as cryptojacking, ransomware, and malware infections. Even so, the criminals have not forgotten the old methods.

A man earned $ 15 million in revenue after promising several buyers mining hardware at a lower price. After the deal was clear, the accused ran away with the money.

Mr. Zhang, a 20-year-old young man based in Anhui province, has been arrested for practicing a misleading scheme on five victims and stealing about 100 million yuan over a three-month period, China Central Television (CCTV) reported.

He promised to deliver the orders within two months

The suspect relied on the moment of glory of the world’s most flamboyant cryptocurrency Bitcoin in the late 2017s and shared with users that he was delivering mining rigs at advantageous prices (at just 10,000 yuan at that time). The accused promised investors the delivery of the product within two months from the date of cashing money. However, the clients did not receive their orders until today.

He bought luxury cars with stolen money

According to Chinese media, the suspect managed to get investor confidence through the low price of mining rigs to be delivered. In fact, he did not own the promised machines, nor did he have a cheap source where he could have bought them. Once Mr. Zhang convinced customers about the security of the acquisition, he received thousands of requests before running away with the money in January.

The guilty of this scam scheme has voluntarily surrendered to the Chinese authorities two months later, arguing his decision to flee by claiming he did not have enough time to deliver the mining rigs but also that their price increased significantly. According to CCTV, Mr. Zhang has spent the stolen money on luxury cars and mining rigs. Currently, he is awaiting the judge’s decision.