Cryptocurrency website eth-event.co appears to be engaged in fraud against California consumers
The California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI) has received a complaint from a California resident regarding eth-event.co.
A California resident told DFPI she met a person on social media who introduced her to a cryptocurrency mining pool and provided her with a 3rd party link at https://eth-event.co/#/?code=83786064. The scammer moved their conversations from Instagram to WhatsApp then to Line app. Soon, the victim claims she was locked into a contract without her permission and without knowledge of any terms. Somehow, this contract allowed the scammer to get into her Coinbase Wallet, and she lost approximately $878,424.64 worth of cryptocurrency. The ETHEvent organization continued to ask her to pledge more money, while automatically transferring funds into the mining pool without permission or email notification. These allegations have not been verified by the DFPI.
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/.
