Chinese law enforcement recently busted 72 individuals connected to the Cloud Token (CTO) scam. The Ponzi was similar to the Plustoken fraud and CTO scammers made off with $500 million. According to regional press, the CTO scam artists are likely connected to the Plustoken swindlers. Moreover, after the Cloud Token arrests in China, police in Inner Mongolia warned the public about another MLM crypto project.
Also Read: Chinese Police Seize Thousands of Miners, Arrest Dozens of Scammers
Cloud Token and Plustoken: The Rise of the Ponzi Scheme Wallets
In 2018, the cryptocurrency community was introduced to a project called Cloud Token. Similar to the Ponzi scheme Plustoken, CTO called itself the first online wallet that could integrate all the popular crypto assets out there today. The creators claimed CTO was a ‘4.0 blockchain project’ and the wallet held USDT, TUSD, BCH, CTO, BTC, LTC, ETH, and DOGE. Just like Plustoken, CTO promised 6-12% interest every month. The project was initially founded by the project’s lead developer Ronald Aai and project manager Daniel Csokas from Singapore. Nearly every article describing the Cloud Token project shows that the scam was tightly connected to the Plustoken creators. In June a report highlighted that the Cloud Token project had issues in Singapore so the MLM crypto scheme’s founders decided to relocate.
Mauritius’ Financial Services Commission Warns the Public About Cloud Token
After leaving Singapore, the publication behindmlm.com reported that the CTO project leaders retreated to Malaysia and the Republic of Mauritius. “In addition to committing securities fraud in the US, Cloud Token is also not registered to offer securities in Singapore or Malaysia,” behindmlm.com explained in June. The following September, Mauritius’ Financial Services Commission (FSC) issued a statement to the public telling people to beware of CTO:
The public is being solicited by a certain group of people on social media under the name of ‘Cloud Token Mauritius’ and ‘Cloud Token Indian Ocean and Africa’ to invest in digital assets and cryptocurrencies through the ‘Cloud Token’ mobile application. It has also come to the attention of the FSC that events are being hosted in publicly accessible areas in Mauritius to promote this application. The FSC urges investors and the public to exercise caution in any dealings with Cloud Token Mauritius and Cloud Token Indian Ocean and Africa.
Following the FSC statement, in December news.Bitcoin.com reported on the arrest of 72 CTO associates. Police from Taiyuan, Shanxi province busted the alleged scammers at a train station and investigators disclosed the project defrauded Chinese investors out of 30 million yuan ($4 million).
After the Cloud Token Scheme Takes in $500 Million, Another MLM Cryptocurrency Project Begins
An editorial published by the China-based publication 8btc explains that during its tenure, the CTO project got away with $500 million. An anonymous CTO victim told 8btc that they deposited $20,000 into the wallet. “The crypto scam stole over $500 million from unsuspecting holders, claiming it’s a decentralized wallet that would reward its users for holding coins,” the anonymous person stressed. “Payment was to be received in the form of the company’s utility token and the reward would be 6% to 10% of the invested coin amount. [Meanwhile] the man promising all these rewards vanished with funds from over 800,000 members wondering when and how they will get their initial investment back.”
Despite the arrest, there are still a number of CTO websites that are still operational. One particular website news.Bitcoin.com visited today showed the price per CTO to be $0.50 and gave a referral code. 8btc columnist Lylian Teng explained that China’s police force is also attempting to squash another crypto Ponzi scheme called Wotoken (WOR). Behindmlm.com has informed the public that Wotoken’s website “provides no information about who owns or runs the business.” Again similarly to Plustoken and Cloud Token, the Wotoken Ponzi scheme promises a daily ROI for a deposit of crypto coins. The multi-level marketing crypto also involves shady referral commissions that allegedly distribute WOR returns.
“By now you should be familiar with the MLM cryptocurrency exit-scam model,” a behindmlm.com report details after reporting on a large number of scams like Onecoin, Cloud Token, Plustoken, and Wotoken as well. “Whenever whoever is running Wotoken decides they’ve stolen enough money or investor recruitment collapses, they’ll announce WOR’s public listing.” The MLM website’s Wotoken review concedes:
Every MLM cryptocurrency scheme has followed this trajectory — Wotoken will be no different.
What do you think about the Cloud Token Ponzi scheme? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below.
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Image credits: Shutterstock, Cloud Token logos, Behindmlm.com, Wiki Commons, Fair Use, and Pixabay.
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