A Lafayette man named Miles McQueary claims to have lost more than $9,000 in crypto to a digital scam site. He says the money in question was his “life savings.”
Miles McQueary Loses All to Crypto Scam
In an interview, Miles commented:
I lost everything we had. It sucks.
Those aware of how scams work in the digital currency arena will find the following scenario rather familiar. Miles saw an advertisement for a new cryptocurrency trading website on social media. He was intrigued by the investing prospects and was curious to know more. Continuing his interview, he stated:
It was talking about bitcoin, where you trade from one platform to another and there’s a difference in price and you’ll gain that difference in price per however much bitcoin you have.
The site was allegedly known as Bit XF, or Bit-X Financial Corp. Miles quickly invested his money into the platform and said he was quick to see returns. He mentioned:
It was showing we were making money.
It wasn’t until he went to do a withdrawal from his account that problems began to occur. He said:
I went to do my normal withdrawal to send it back to my crypto account and it said failure on the Bit XF account.
He immediately contacted the company and had staff members explain to him that he was under suspicion of violating international anti-money laundering laws. Confused and appalled by the situation, Miles quickly obeyed when these same staff members told him to forward his personal information and additional funds, claiming that doing so would potentially unlock his account.
Miles said:
They literally took every dollar. We had two dollars in our bank account. That was everything. I sent it to them. I got no response.
According to the company website, Bit XF is based in British Columbia, Canada. It is allegedly a “reporting issuer” with the British Columbia Securities Commission (BCSC), though the agency claims to have never heard of the company, nor has it done any business with its executives. A statement from the BCSC reads:
The British Columbia Securities Commission has had no contact with any crypto asset exchange or platform that goes by that name.
The organization has since added Bit XF to its Investment Caution List. Tim Sewell – CEO and co-founder of Reveal Risk, a cybersecurity company in Carmel, California – looked at the company’s site and claims that it bears several red flags. He stated:
Customer service is misspelled. That’s usually one that websites will get right.
Be Very, Very Careful
He also claimed that the site used the word “guarantee,” which is something no crypto trading platform should ever say given the volatile nature of most digital assets. He says:
Here’s a disclaimer: if you’re in the Chinese mainland or the United States, do not participate in investments.
