JOHANNESBURG – BTC Global has in the past year promised extremely large returns over a short period of time, but in a twist of events South Africans are reporting dodgy Bitcoin investment schemes instead.
According to the Hawks, over $50 million was lost in the BTC Global scam last year, with South Africans investing between R16,000 and 1.4 million each.
The crime investigative unit, which started investigating BTC Global since May last year said the company was falsely claiming that those implicated had been cleared.
The Hawks spokesperson Hangwani Mulaudzi says “the investigation is still alive”. He went on to add that the victims should not lose faith and should not stop co-operating with the probe.
The waring signs of the latest Bitcoin schemes include financial reward for recruiting new members, a larger payout for a larger number of investors in the pool.
According to the Consumer Protection Act any scheme that offers returns of twenty percent above the repo rate should be considered a Ponzi scheme.
