The latest crypto Ponzi scheme BitClub Network, crashed after the New Jersey authorities arrested three men for defrauding investors of more than $722 million as per the announcement from the Department of Justice that we have in our latest cryptocurrency news.The announcement stated that BitClub Network promised huge returns in exchange for investing in the shared cryptocurrency mining pool provided by the platform. The parties at the center of the scheme allegedly misappropriated more than $722 million of those funds that they used for themselves rather than in the promised mining pool. Authorities accuse the three-man of falsifying information on returns so they could solicit more investment as well. The three accused are Jobadiah Weeks, Matthew Coettsche both from Colorado and Joseph Abel of California.The authorities charged them with conspiracy to commit wire fraud with a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison as well as conspiracy to offer and sell unregistered securities. Abel had been the least involved in the scheme and has only been charged with conspiracy to offer and sell unregistered securities with a prison sentence of 5 years. The press release also mentioned some other conspirators who have not been charged with crimes.This is not the first sign that BitClub Network could not be fully above the board operation. Back in 2016, the crypto news outlet 99bitcoins warned against investing in this platform despite removing the earlier ‘’scam’’ title they earned before. The author, Ofir Beigel commented;

 “After gathering the facts I can’t prove that Bitclub network is a scam beyond a shadow of a doubt. I do however still think that Bitclub Network’s business model is lacking and wouldn’t invest in it personally.”

Back in 2017, the reports emerged for the accusation that BitClub even launched a malleability attack on the Bitcoin network. However, this is not among the top popular scams in the crypto industry. One of the most famous crypto exit scams in the case of OneCoin, back in November, the court found an attorney guilty of laundering more than $400 million on behalf of the former founder of the scam platform Ruja Ignatova. He was paid up to $50 million for his services. Ignatova is still missing but the website went finally offline last week.

The Coinjer scam is one of the newest scams that happened in crypto-related social media. The con mainly works from Telegram channels and cons people into “investing” Bitcoin in order to earn more and we are reading more about it in today’s crypto news.The Coinjer scam is a relatively speaking a small attempt to siphon away Bitcoin (BTC). The con claims that it will give BTC reward but does not pay it, a Reddit thread explains on the subject.The messages circulating on Telegram proclaim that the user won 0.25 Bitcoin (BTC), just they have to claim the prize. The Coinjer site then asks the “happy winner” to register on the site. But an actual withdrawal of 0.25 Bitcoin (BTC) is not permitted and the user must supply some more Bitcoin (BTC) in order to reach the threshold of 0.3 Bitcoin (BTC). Even then Coinjer will not pay its user. Now the con asks for even more verification including a KYC screening, that costs 0.1 Bitcoin (BTC), as noted by another Reddit user. In this way, Coinjer beside the Bitcoin (BTC) is probably stealing electronic and real-world identities too.It looks like the con expanded from the Anglosphere social media to include Asian users. The name Coinjer is a parodical version of CoinJar, a legitimate crypto-payment service. What is now called “the most elaborate crypto scam” resemble a lot to old-fashioned mail-order scams, that had requirements of payment to give the promised prize. And in the end, the scams would not pay the said prize.Usually, scams are more present during growth times, and their presence falls in the duration of bear markets. For now, it seems that the so-called Ethereum giveaway scams have shrunk from Twitter. Pyramid-like scams reappear typically trying to contact investors directly appealing their naivety.This year, PlusToken scam was operating in China for months, stealing away more than $3 billion in Bitcoin (BTC). The HEX scam is also growing its base, trying to take Ethereum (ETH) and possibly Bitcoin (BTC). Telegram in recent times is one of the nest for scam activity, including the spreading of false ICO deposit addresses, tainted wallets, and impersonating ICO leaders. The Coinjer scam is not trying to “sell” another cryptocurrency but directly asks for Bitcoin (BTC).

Argentina’s government recently got hit with a Bitcoin ransomware attack and according to the latest information that we have in our Bitcoin blackmail news, the hacker demanded 50 BTC to withdraw the attack.For all of the positive changes that crypto brought over the years, there are still a lot of issues that emerge and cause harm to others. A perfect example of this is the hackers who recently attacked Argentina’s government by locking away 10 years' worth of government files. The Bitcoin ransomware attack supposedly took place about two weeks ago and according to Argentina’s minister of science and technology Alicia Banuelos, some of the details regarding the incident were exposed in an interview with Agencia de Noticia de san Luis which is the main digital news outlet.In an interview, Banuelos noted that the hackers invaded a data center that was used by the government and that they encrypted more than 7,700 GB of data. According to her assessment, it’s about 10 years’ worth of information but after the attack, the government managed to recover most of the encrypted data which is about 90 percent. Banuelos added that the job is still far from over and that decrypting all of the files will take more than two weeks. The amount of information that was encrypted is enormous and this is why the recovery of the files will be prolonged.As with other ransomware attacks, the hackers demanded the payment and they want it in the form of Bitcoin. Banuelos didn’t quite reveal the exact amount that the hackers required but some claim that the amount reached up to $370,000 in Bitcoin. The hackers tend to target the private sector with ransomware attacks but they also attack any individual, company or entity just to get paid. The governments have become targets of these attacks as well as previously reported when the South African City of Johannesburg administration website was also hacked by the hacking group of Shadow Kill Hackers.Another ransomware attack happened a few months ago from another group called Sadinokibi to attack a US data center. The powerful ransomware was used so the hackers obtain the data, demanding $287,000 to be paid. There was another attack on Stratford City Hall a few months ago when the attackers demanded a bitcoin payment worth about $75,000.

According to recent documents from the United States, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) thinks that the case against the known fraudster and Ponzi schemer, Renwick Haddow, still needs to be properly solved. The infamous bitcoin scammer will be trailed again and we are reading more about it in the bitcoin news now.It looks like the United States SEC is not satisfied with the decision from the New York Southern District Court judge, in regards to the case against Renwick Haddow. Judge Lorna G. Schofield gave the order for the closure of the said case, which was brought by the SEC against the infamous Bitcoin scammer.But reading the latest report, we can see that SEC now is seeking to re-open the case, appealing that there are still unsolved several issues, mainly about certain monetary penalties that the US regulating body, wants to be sanctioned on the Ponzi fraudster.Haddow is well known for a number of high profile schemes, however, his hot-desking operation located in the USA and called Bar Works is likely the most famous. The fraud essentially consisted of selling false investments in unused restaurants and bars throughout a few US cities, including NYC and San Francisco. But he also had a temporary branch in Istanbul. He frauded above 100 UAE investors, who declared losing money in the count of millions of dirhams in this concrete scheme.The other big scams included making a front corporate network under the name ‘Capital Organization’ that consisted of 30 shell companies guilty for scamming investors out of a total of $180 million, according to a 2015 World Policy report. And there is also Bitcoin Store Inc and his 7^th Avenue firms, which were instrumental in a further $37 million worth of scamming from investors from 2015 to 2017.At first, the SEC brought the case against Haddow involving several of his fraudulent operations. After the decision of the Court to close the case, the SEC sent letters and requests to the Judge that decided in the case, Lorna G. Schofield, asking for the re-opening of the case by the court. The complaint of the SEC is tied to the issue of monetary penalties and the unresolvedness tied to said penalties. The SEC also expects the outcome from one of two possible scenarios, after the sentencing of Haddow. The first one will include a monetary relief settlement among the parties, while the other will is a motion by the SEC seeking monetary relief on its own.