Egyptian authorities recently detained 29 people suspected of being behind a cryptocurrency investment scam. Throughout the course of the arrests, law enforcement seized roughly 95 mobile phones and 3,367 SIM cards. Approximately $194,000 in both domestic and foreign currencies were also recovered, according to a recent report.
According to a statement issued by local authorities, the individuals behind the alleged crypto mining application scam utilized 88 digital wallets to take in money from investors. After the funds were collected, the gang would then distribute them amongst 9,965 other wallets. Later, the funds would be converted to Bitcoin and then transmitted to locations outside of Egypt.
Although the statement reported that the Hoggpool scammers had stolen as much as $615,000 USD, many believe that the total is quite a bit higher. Abdulaziz Hussein, an attorney representing more than a thousand scam victims residing in Cairo, is suggesting that up to 800,000 men and women may have been victims of the scam.
Even though cryptocurrency use is prohibited in Egypt, the individuals behind the scam were able to attract new victims by offering a super high return on each investment. For example, potential investors were supplied with investment options ranging from a $10 investment and $1 daily payout, to an option where the investor would pay $800 to purchase a mining machine that yielded $55 a day in profit.
On top of the promises of high returns, the accused are charged with forging documents to draw in victims. One of those documents was a so-called certificate of good standing that was allegedly issued to Hoggpool on behalf of the state of Colorado’s Office of the Secretary of State.