Updated October 16, 2023:
The Division received another complaint regarding B9 that was similar to the original alert but the following information is new to the scheme:
- The investor was introduced to B9 by Susan Su (“Su”). The investor communicated with Su primarily on Telegram. Su’s username is @su88121314.
- Su claimed her aunt, Aileen, managed a project called “Blockchain Authentication” on SafePal. Aileen’s username on Telegram is @Lee363.
- The investor was directed to send funds to the following SafePal wallet address: 0xa633ab96e154373B9607a1966820d43265A27880
- The investor was told to start an account at B9, at https://www.b9exs.com/wap. This website appears to have been taken down.
- The investor was directed to send funds to the following B9 wallet address, 0x8A383E15c720BC0C65AEdB6342a44E60c05E3A1D
- After the investor had issues sending USDT to the B9 wallet, Su convinced the investor to wire funds to “Cty Tnhh Tm Dv Logistics Nhat Quan”, to a bank in Vietnam.
The Washington State Department of Financial Institutions (DFI), Securities Division has received a complaint from an investor regarding B9.com (“B9”), a purported cryptocurrency trading platform. According to the website, B9 claims to be “the world’s leading digital wealth management platform.”
The investor was introduced to B9 by an acquaintance who claimed to have made a large amount of money trading on B9. This individual introduced the investor to “Aileen” who described themselves as a professional in cryptocurrency investments. Aileen claimed that large returns are based on data driven “binary algorithms.” Aileen requested that the investor communicate over the Telegram messaging service.
Aileen helped the investor set up an account at B9 and told the investor to purchase Ethereum (“ETH”) through Crypto.com and send the ETH to SafePal Wallet and then to the B9 exchange, where the investor would be able to trade the ETH. The investor invested a total of $145,000 on the B9 exchange. After investing, Aileen pressured the investor to invest more money either by borrowing money from friends or taking out loans.
When the investor attempted to withdraw funds from their B9 account, B9 customer service froze their account due to a purported security breach. To “re-certify” the account, B9 demanded positive identification from the investor and the investor pay a $76,000 proof of deposit fee within two weeks or their account would be permanently frozen. B9 did not allow the investor to use the purported funds in their B9 account to satisfy the $76,000 proof of deposit.
After the investor paid the $76,000, B9 told the investor that the account was re-certified and was available for withdrawals. The investor’s account had a purported balance of over $451,000. When the investor attempted to withdraw funds, B9 said that the taxes must be paid in the amount of 18% of the total account balance. The investor requested the withdrawal be canceled but B9 said they were unable to do so. B9 demanded the taxes be paid or they would send a complaint to the IRS. The investor lost $221,000 investing with B9. These allegations have not been verified by DFI.
This appears to be what is commonly called “Advance Fee Fraud”, which can take many forms. It also appears to be a “Pig Butchering” Scheme.
This complaint contained several other red flags indicating fraud (which have also not been verified by DFI), including:
- The B9 website claims to be registered with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCen”) as a Money Service Business (MSB). A search of the purported B9 MSB registration number 31000195198839 on the FinCen website returned no results
- The B9 website claims that Binjiu International Exchange is incorporated in the United States and licensed by FinCen. A search of Binjiu International Exchange on the FinCen website returned no results. An internet search of Binjiu International Exchange did not return any results showing it was incorporated in the United States. It does not appear that the B9 website explains how Binjiu International Exchange and B9 are related.
- The B9 website claims “flexible term, stable return, high return, no risk.” Beware of sites that guarantee high returns or claim there is no risk. All investments come with some degree of risk.
DFI urges consumers to exercise extreme caution before responding to any solicitation offering investment or financial services. Investment professionals need to be licensed with DFI to offer investments to Washington residents. In addition, most investment products sold need to be registered with DFI. To check the licensing status and to find out if there are any complaints against an investment professional or investment product, please visit FINRA Brokercheck or contact the Washington State Department of Financial Institutions, Securities Division at (360) 902-8760. If you live outside of Washington State, contact your state securities regulator.
If a consumer believes a person or company has violated state law or acted improperly regarding an investment product or service, they may file a complaint with the Securities Division.
Additional Resources
Virtual Currency, Cryptocurrency, and Digital Assets Information for Consumers