A fraud involving bitcoin investments in Austria would have affected more than 10,000 investors in the country and across Europe.
R $ 420 million
Details are emerging on an Austrian investment scheme called "Optioment", where its operators allegedly stole about 12,000 bitcoins from more than 10,000 victims who invested in the scheme.
The scheme had a website, now disconnected, claiming to be the "first global investment product in Bitcoin" from a Costa Rican-based bitcoin fund. "
The scheme also claimed to have its asset-backed "investment" platform with more than 35,000 BTCs.
The Die Presse report reveals that investors were attracted by the promise of increasing returns of 1.5% to 4% per week in their deposited bins. Investors were also rewarded for bringing new users to the scheme, a tactic well known for pyramids.
"OPTIOMENT pays you Bitcoins when you share with your friends and co-workers," said the website, available on the Internet Archive.
"Our first level of unpaid compensation plan pays you 7%, second level 4%, third level 3% and more. And you get every time the member of your network makes a deposit, not only for the first time, but also for every time. Active and passive!"
Do these words sound familiar to you? Yes, many companies act this way, including some Brazilian schemes. Always be suspicious of "companies" like that. The chance of you being robbed is enormous.
The largest investor event organized by Optioment occurred in the weeks before the collapse, where 700 participants showed up at a hotel in Vienna. The investment scheme also saw its network expand for investors in Poland, Romania and the former Yugoslavia.
At the end of January, the Austrian Financial Markets Authority began collaborating with the Public Prosecutor's Office in Vienna to conduct an investigation into suspected frauds and ponzi schemes, the Die Presse report added.
Two of the three operators behind Optioment have been identified. As such, no arrests were made, an FMA spokeswoman told Bloomberg. Still, prosecutors are examining "hundreds of complaints" from Austrian investors, prompting authorities to pressure Interpol to help track down alleged fraud operators.