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- After three months of consecutive returns, the scammer ran away with investors’ Dogecoins during the fourth month.
- Local authorities are actively looking for a pseudonymous identity Turgut V.
An alleged $120 million Dogecoin (DOGE) scam has recently popped up in Turkey. Local media publications reported that the scammer went missing after duping 1500 people. The scammer managed to run away with a total of 350 million DOGE tokens.
Local channel TV100 reported the news earlier this week on August 23. Authorities have started an investigation into this matter with the local police identifying a pseudonymous personality “Turgut V”.
The authorities noted that Turgut along with 11 other associates managed to pull off this scam. Turgut conducted in-person networking events with DOGE investors thereby creating excitement around Dogecoin mining operations. Besides, the pseudonymous scammer also promised investors a staggering 100 percent return in 40 days.
To gain confidence among investors, Turgut also paid returns for around 3 months. Thus, the scammer started demanding from investors in DOGE saying that the investment will go towards buying hardware for DOGE mining.
Just like Bitcoin, Dogecoin also works on the Proof-of-Work algorithm. Thus, it allows miners to computationally solve algorithms to unlock new blocks in the Dogecoin blockchain. Besides, network participants can also contribute towards validating transactions.
Dogecoin has been in the news for its stellar rally this year in 2021. Earlier in May 2021, the DOGE price surged all the way above $0.70. At present, DOGE is trading at more than a 50 percent discount from the ATH but continues to strongly defend its position as the seventh-largest cryptocurrency in the market.
Duping 1500 Dogecoin (DOGE) Investors
As said, Turgut and his associates managed to dupe nearly 1500 DOGE investors in this scam. the scammers conducted all operations legitimately for the first three months. But soon at the total value invested surpassed 350 million Dogecoin, the scammers disappeared with the fund.
Istanbul’s Küçükçekmece Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office has kickstarted investigation into the matter. In a suo motu action, the regulator has banned Turgut V from leaving the country. Turkey investors have been one of the most active participants in the global crypto market.
Notably, a rising number of investors started participating amid the depreciating national currency Lira. The financial regulators in Turkey have been taking key measures on crypto investments. As a result, Turkey has also become a hotbed of illicit crypto activities and scammers.
Two of the country’s biggest crypto exchanges announced a shutdown earlier this year. Reportedly, the Turkish authorities arrested six suspects linked to the collapse of local crypto trading platform Theodex. The exchange abruptly halted the withdrawal services earlier this month.
Amid the rapidly rising participation in the crypto space, there’s been a rapidly rising number of scams. Recently, Australian authorities uncovered that around $70 million has been lost in crypto scams. In July, South Korean authorities arrested 33 people involved with crypto money laundering.
