The California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI) has received a complaint from a California resident regarding dcmlion.xyz, a website claiming to be related to a Chinese-based company, DCM Ventures.

The victim told DFPI he was scammed by a person he met on social media into transferring Bitcoin into what turned out to be a fraudulent exchange.  When the victim asked for the money back from the exchange, they told him he could only get it back by paying “taxes:. These allegations have not been verified by the DFPI. The real DCM Ventures has posted an alert about these fraudulent Advance Fee Scam entities at https://www.dcm.com/en/contact/silicon-valley.

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 ask.dfpi@dfpi.ca.gov 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/.