Cryptocurrency Related Scams & Suspicious Websites
(Updated 9/21/22)
According to Wikipedia, cryptocurrency is a “collection of binary data which is designed to work as a medium of exchange.” Think of it as a digital form of money that can be exchanged and traded for many services and goods. According to Statista.com, there are more than 7,500 cryptocurrencies as of November, 2021! (According to e-cryptonews.com, the figure isn’t easy to pin down but the number is likely between 6,800 and 8,000.) The first, and perhaps most famous cryptocurrency, is Bitcoin which was released in 2009. Unsurprisingly, as interest in cryptocurrencies has grown and thousands of new Bitcoin-wannabes have appeared across the Internet, there has also been a similar explosion in the number of questionable and scam websites and emails inviting people to purchase and invest in cryptocurrencies. This article will document some of these questionable and/or scam websites, services and communications. Even the news about cryptocurrencies have sometimes been manipulated! Check out this November 5th article on CNN about fake information being released from Kroger’s supermarket about allowing the use of Bitcoins in their chain of supermarkets. Can you imagine the positive impact this likely had on Bitcoin trading that day! This is another reason why the public needs to be extremely cautious about investing in cryptocurrencies. Unlike traditional currencies, they have proven to be very easily manipulated.
Companies covered in this article are:
1. Crypto Flow Limited / cryptoflowltd.co.uk
2. Entirety Trading / entiretycrypto.com / entiretytrading.com
Other Cryptocurrency Companies that are scams or HIGHLY SUSPICIOUS:
1. Offshorescoins.com / Offshorescoins.com LTD (Domain registered 3/11/22) – NOT registered in the UK as they say; promises 80% return in 24 hours!
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1. Crypto Flow Limited / cryptoflowltd.co.uk
Our scam-baiting friend, Rob recently received the following unsolicited email from someone identified as “Harry Noah.” Mr. Noah claimed to represent a cryptocurrency investing business called Crypto Flow Ltd, which is registered in the UK on the official UK government website.
On Thu, Nov 11, 2021 at 6:57 AM Harry Noah <lukeomeife@gmail.com> wrote:
Hello Sir,
We are an Investment firm targeted at creating seamless wealth through trading and investing in digital currency globally.
For more details reach me on my official email:
Let’s discuss business.
E-mail: harrynoah@pi.cryptoflowltd.co.uk
It was odd that the initial email from Mr. Noah came from a Gmail address called “lukeomeife” and NOT the official email address that was provided in his email. (This practice happens to be extremely common amongst 419-scammers.) But Rob responded that he was interested and wanted to know more. Mr. Noah replied with this second email that also included an attached 10 page pdf file detailing an “investment presentation” by Harry Noah. Again, the reply was odd because the text field, this time, used the name “Harry Noah” but the email came from an address for “kevincrabs.”
From: Harry Noah <kevincrabs@pi.cryptoflowltd.co.uk>
Date: Sun, Nov 14, 2021 at 6:24 AM
Subject: Re: Investment opportunity
Hello Rob,
Thanks so much for your response. I have prepared a detailed presentation for better understanding. Kindly find the attached PDF. Go through it and revert back to me.
Sincerely,
Here are a few notable screenshots from Harry Noah’s pdf file. This first screenshot is from the top of page one. In it, Mr. Noah states that Rob can earn a lot of money by pulling in more than 100 other investors into this investment opportunity.( We peaked underneath the hood of this pdf file and found it interesting that the “Content creator” information for this file was written in Mandarin, not English. Google translated the Mandarin to “You are here.”)
Mr. Noah’s pdf also detailed how Rob’s money could expect to grow if he invested with Crypto Flow Limited. The expected growth on an investment is nothing short of a miracle! In fact, we think it is unbelievable! In just 12 weeks, Mr. Noah told Rob that he could “easily make between 2.80% to 4.00% weekly for 90 days with an opportunity to make up to 500%…” if Rob moved his account to the Crypto Flow Limited “executive signal softwares.” Mr. Noah’s claim translates to a financial growth between almost 37% – 48% in just 12 weeks. This is an annual growth rate of about 428% when you include growth on the earnings! (Thanks to Rob for giving us the calculation to confirm this growth!) So, for example, if Rob purchased the minimum investment at a cost of $2000, the value 1 year later would be $8,586 according to Mr. Noah. Does this sound believable to you? And it still doesn’t include 5% of the income you bring in through other fools…er, we mean investors.
Mr. Noah’s pdf file, as well as their website, cryptoflowltd.co.uk/about, both show the Experts and Team at Crypto Flow Ltd. They include:
- CEO Founder, Mr. Benjamin Spedding
- Director, Mrs. Catherine Spedding
- Investment Consultant, Cynthia Michaels
- Head of IT, Isaac Orlando
After reviewing the pdf file, Rob told us that he replied again to Harry Noah, saying that this investment looked “too risky.” This time the email response appeared to come from “Kevin Crabtree” instead of “Harry Noah” but using the same email address as the previous email. In this email, we **LOVED** how Mr. Crabtree tries to reassure Rob by saying that he is also an investor and is “pretty much comfortable with the rates.” When you read the email, no doubt, you’ll feel like Mr. Crabtree is the proverbial wolf in sheep’s clothing!
From: Kevin Crabtree <kevincrabs@pi.cryptoflowltd.co.uk>
Date: Sun, Nov 14, 2021 at 7:50 AM
Subject: Re: Investment opportunity
Thank you for your response. Do you actually mean the rates are too high? Well I am also an investor and I am pretty much comfortable with the rates and so far it has been paying well. I will never tell someone about what I don’t do myself. If you could give it a try you will definitely see for yourself.
REGARDS,
PRIME INVESTORS GROUP
54 Bootham, York,
North Yorkshire,
United Kingdom, YO30 7XZ
Toll Free: +44 159 480 8776
www.cryptoflowltd.co.uk
Rob exchanged a few more emails with Kevin Crabtree before pulling out. However, one more notable email came when Rob asked Mr. Crabtree how long Crypto Flow Ltd had been in business. Here is his response. Note the awkward English. We think this is important because the awkward English suggests that it is not the first language of the person writing this email. And yet, we found three credible sources online that state the surname “Crabtree” and Anglo-saxon with a long history starting in the UK. Meaning, English-speaking! Also, note that the “lowest plan” that Mr. Crabtree advises Rob to purchase, costs $2,000-$4,999 and promises a weekly interest rate of 2.80-2.95% for each week of the 180 day contract! Remember, that translates to an annualized rate of more than 145%!
From: Kevin Crabtree <kevincrabs@pi.cryptoflowltd.co.uk>
Date: Sun, Nov 14, 2021 at 3:25 PM
Subject: Re: Investment opportunity
Well, probably over 10 years but I can only rely on records. Their business was registered in 2017 so that is the best record I can point to. I will advice you give it a try by investing with the lowest plan for a start and watch as it goes before making any further decision.
REGARDS,
PRIME INVESTORS GROUP
54 Bootham, York,
North Yorkshire,
United Kingdom, YO30 7XZ
Toll Free: +44 159 480 8776
www.cryptoflowltd.co.uk
A visit to cryptoflowltd.co.uk shows a robust website, available in 24 languages, with a “ticker-tape” feed showing cryptocurrency trading across the top. There’s a lot to digest here! Check out these two screenshots from their “About Us” page. They claim to have been in the market for more than 4 years, with over 50,000 active accounts, and 7.5 million dollars in active transactions! Impressive, right?
If only we could believe them! We found MANY red flags and concerns about the cryptocurrency investment company called Crypto Flow Ltd. In addition to the odd use of email addresses and awkward English mentioned above, we have some DEAL-BREAKERS why we would never send them a dime…
a) DOMAIN AGE: The domain used for Crypto Flow Ltd is cryptoflowltd.co.uk. According to several WHOIS tools we checked, this domain was first registered on October 5, 2021 and is therefore less than 2 months old! . Additionally, not a single WHOIS service can identify the owner of this domain, or the business it was registered to. (Why wouldn’t they, at least, register the domain in the name of the business?) And yet, the Crypto Flow Ltd website says they have been in business since 2017 and Mr. Crabtree says “probably over 10 years.”
b) YOUTUBE CHANNEL: For a company that relies heavily on the Internet to inform investors worldwide and claims to have been in business for more than 4 years, WHY does their YouTube Channel have ONLY 25 subscribers (as of 11/23/21) and NO CONTENT? Remember, this is the company whose website says that they have over 50,000 active accounts! The one YouTube video we can find with their name and business icon associated with it was posted on October 21, 2021, about 2 weeks after their domain was registered. The video literally says nothing at all, contains no worthwhile information, but has 15 glowing comments.
c) UNRELIABLE GOVERNMENT INFO: What about that official record on the UK Government website for Crypto Flow Ltd AND its founders, Mr. Benjamin John Spedding (Ceo Founder) and Mrs. Catherine Spedding (Director)? The UK Government website itself says “The fact that the information has been placed on the public record should not be taken to indicate that Companies House has verified or validated it in any way.” In other words, this official website does NOT verify the authenticity or legitimacy of the businesses registered with it! An “official record” doesn’t mean jack squat! However, we also found conflicting information to our point about the age of the company. For example, the Filing History on the UK Government website shows that they filed their business in the UK in June, 2017. We simply cannot verify whether this is data that the Government website says because that’s when it happened OR this is data posted by Crypto Flow Ltd.
d) FAKE PEOPLE: The most interesting evidence that puts Crypto Flow Ltd into doubt is the fact that we could not find any of the Crypto Flow Ltd Team members ANYWHERE ELSE on the internet, including LinkedIn. There was only one other website that had information about any of these people besides the Crypto Flow website. According to TinEye.com, three of the 4 leaders of Crypto Flow Ltd were images recently created using artificial intelligence by the service called Generated.photos. This means the faces you see in these pictures DON’T EXIST IN REAL LIFE! They were computer generated images! Below you will see screenshots from TinEye three out of the four Expert Team Members for Crypto Flow Ltd, including the CEO Founder, Benjamin Spedding! You can also view “Mr. Spedding” directly on Generated.Photos using this link. (Click the screenshots to enlarge.)
5. BUSINESS LOCATION: This UK Business Database Website has identified 27 businesses that are located at 54 Bootham, York, England and none of them are Crypto FLow Limited. Nor can they be found at #50. We cannot find any reliable third party source that has identified this location for this business. However, we have not placed phone calls to other businesses found at these addresses. Yet.
Given all of the above information, we think Rob was right to step away from this “investment.” He told us that he responded to Kevin Crabtree by saying that this investment firm and their claims felt like a Ponzi scheme. (Remember the Ponzi scheme created by Bernie Madoff? Read item #4 in the screenshot below. It was taken from Mr. Noah’s pdf file.) Rob isn’t alone in this assessment of Crypto Flow Ltd! Check out this review about them from BestBinaryOptionsWatch.com. It also says that their rate of return is unrealistic and feels like a pyramid scheme. This investment firm is NOT to be trusted in our opinion! In response to Rob’s last email, Mr. Crabtree said “Before you say something is a scam you need to have your proofs. This is a registered company in the UK.” We believe we have our “proofs!”
2. Entirety Trading / entiretycrypto.com / entiretytrading.com
TDS received the following email in November, 2021 from someone who identified himself as Mr. Alexander Gilbert. He claimed to represent another questionable company called Entirety Trading Company. But rather than send his email from either of the two domains listed on their website, Mr. Gilbert’s email came from a free email service at “consultant.com” which is frequently used by 419-Scammers.
Readers of this article may immediately think the obvious about this email… Just because Mr. Gilbert claims to represent Entirety Trading Company doesn’t mean he does! Afterall, Mr. Gilbert could be just another scammer misusing a legitimate company name, right? True, but we also did some digging into Entirety Trading Company and what we found did not inspire us to recommend this company to anyone. Let’s start with a Google search for “Entirety Trading Company,” who claim to be from Sydney, Australia, and use the domain entirecrypto.com for their website. (Click graphic to enlarge.)
1. GOOGLE SEARCH: The Google search returns only 8 links related to the company name. One of these is the company website itself and another one is BrendingHat.com which exposes fraudulent emails. On November 19, Brendinghat.com posted the same email that we received from Mr. Gilbert. Other links returned by Google are connected to Bahrain. This little information is especially odd since their website states very clearly that they “were created in 2008 and went global in 2015.” When we restricted our Google search to information found BEFORE 2019, Google found ONLY 2 links coming from Bahrain about this 13 year old company! (One link was written in Arabic from 2016 and the other link is about “Bathroom fitting and suppliers” from 2017)
2. NOT FOUND ON AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENT WEBSITES: Entirety Trading Company claims to be “an officially registered company” from Sydney, Australia but it can’t be found on the Australian Government Securities and Investment Commission website. (The most similarly named business that we could find was called ENTIRETY, and is listed as cancelled. Also, “ENTIRETY” is listed as being located in Queensland but Sydney is part of New South Wales.)
3. DOMAIN AGE: Entirety Trading Company uses two domains: entirtycrypto.com and entiretytrading.com. The former was registered anonymously in late October, 2021. As we write this article, their domain isn’t even a month old! Entiretytrading.com is older and was registered almost a year ago, but again, this doesn’t match a company who says they’ve been in business for 13 years! Also, legitimate companies register their domains in their own business names, not anonymously! (Click graphics to enlarge.)
4. FICTIONAL LOCATION: On their “Contact Us” webpage, Entirety Trading says that they have an office on 14 Coventry Street, London, UK. We conducted a Google search for this address and despite our best efforts, we find no record of such a business located at this address.
In the FAQ section of their website, Entirety Trading says “ENTIRETY TRADING is a prominent representative of the international financial market, cryptocurrency trading and mining. it is a developer of hardware and offers safe investments in this area.” and “We are a fully licensed and certified Australia company, and as our client, you should have nothing to worry about when investing with us. Our license number is: 2346764” We couldn’t disagree more strongly! STAY AWAY from this very questionable website and service! And we are not the only ones who think so. Scamadviser.com gives them a Trust Score of 1 out of 100!
