The Washington State Department of Financial Institutions (DFI), Securities Division received a complaint from a Washington investor regarding purported cryptocurrency trading website, dexusvip.com (“Dexusvip”). The investor learned of Dexusvip when someone named “Anran” sent an unsolicited text message to the investor. They soon started communicating on WhatsApp. Anran told the investor about gains she had made while making short terms trades and offered to teach the investor how to trade.
The investor sent $600 in Bitcoin to a DEX app, which appears to have been downloaded off dexusvip.com. He saw his purported trading account increase in value and tried to withdraw his profits. When he was unable to, he contacted Dexusvip customer support. They demanded that he pay $600 in USDT (Tether) as a fee to verify his identity. The investor did not pay and has lost his entire investment.
The following email and wallet addresses appear to be associated with this scheme:
- Guojing111222111@gmail.com
- 0x2Be9f189a94a96F6387Cde0EF286A48Ccb4f5eB9
DFI has not verified these allegations.
This appears to be what is commonly called a “Pig Butchering Scheme.”
It may also be an “Advance Fee Scheme.”
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