Crypto Exchange Founder Stole $2 Billion From Users Overnight
Thodex is a Turkish cryptocurrency exchange platform, with a fair amount of users. The Founder of Thodex, Faruk Fatih ?zer, took $2 billion from over 400,00 users and fled with the money overnight in 2021.
Thodex stopped operating as normal back in April 2021, when it abruptly stopped trading and users could no longer access their money. Thodex’s vague excuse was that some other outside trading required operations to be shut down for a period of four to five days. Users were understandably upset when they no longer had access to their funds.
?zer assured users their money was safe and sound and would be returned to them sooner than later, but Thodex was currently facing cyberattacks that meant he couldn’t move the money yet. By the time police reacted and seized company computers, froze accounts, and detained some 62 workers, ?zer was long gone and hiding in Albania.
According to Decrypt, ?zer was found and captured in Albania on August 30, 2022. The Turkish government has already started the process to extradite ?zer back to Turkey, where he faces a whopping 40,564 years of jail time. While ?zer claims he was in Albania for business, it appears he was there trying to avoid the Turkish government.
What Can We Learn From This?
Just like anything else in life, there are always people looking for easy money no matter who they need to scam to get it. Unfortunately, innocent crypto investors got pulled into this scheme, and continue to be scammed out of their cryptocurrency.
The best takeaway from this incident is to remember to be careful online, especially when it comes to your hard earned-money. Crypto scams are far from uncommon, and more scam stories pop up in the news each year.
There are a number of common crypto scams out there to stay far away from. Some of the most popular crypto scams include: phishing, pump and dump, fake apps, fake sites, giveaway scams, celebrity endorsements, etc.
What Are Some Crypto Scam Warning Signs?
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Anytime someone promises you will make money by investing in their crypto project, it might be a scam. Due to the volatile nature of crypto, no one knows which projects will succeed and which ones will fail, meaning any investment is a gamble and you never know if it’s going to pay off. If you’re promised without a doubt to receive some grand payout, it’s a major red flag.
Another common red flag is extreme marketing. Doing some marketing to get yourself out there is totally normal, especially for up and coming crypto projects. However, if there’s too much marketing it can be a bad sign. Crypto projects with tons of online ads, influencers paid to say good things about the project, and lots of extravagant claims in the advertising can mean the project is overcompensating.
Avoid these common red flags, and only invest with projects you trust. There’s no foolproof way to guarantee you never get scammed by a crypto project, but there are a lot of measures you can take to lower your chances. Research the project and its team, find reviews and feedback online, view the team’s past projects, and don’t give out your wallet information to anyone.
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