AFP
In association with
RTV East
NOS Nieuws•vandaag, 23:03
About a hundred people have reported to a lawyer because they say they have been scammed by a 23-year-old ‘crypto investor’ from Hengelo. Together they may have lost millions, one victim estimates RTV East.
The victims transferred large amounts to the man who invested it on their behalf in virtual coins. Yesterday, the investor announced that he had lost all his money, including his own money, the broadcaster reported. By now he is said to be missing.
The man is said to have built up a reputation in his immediate environment as a ‘crypto genius’. The minimum investment was 5,000 euros, one of the victims told the regional broadcaster. The investors were regularly emailed an overview of the profits. They could have it paid out or reinvested. According to the regional channel, some people actually received ‘profits’. It is suspected that this was paid for with the money that other investors put in, and was not actually profit.
Nevertheless, according to RTV Oost, the ‘profit distribution’ provided good word-of-mouth advertising for the man, causing more and more investors to sign up. This may have involved a total of 300 people, according to the number of names on the mailing list that was viewed by a reporter from the broadcaster.
Legal options
Lawyer Arjon Tieman examines on behalf of the investors what legal options the victims have. “We could take legal action against the person involved. Another option is that we focus on professional parties such as banks and crypto platforms involved,” he told the regional broadcaster.
According to the lawyer, another option is to see to what extent a bank can be held responsible. “The question now is, among other things, to what extent a bank has a duty of care if such amounts are credited to the account of such a young person,” said the lawyer.
None of the investors filed a police report. “We look at what is sensible. Whether the victims should do this individually or whether we might do it together and, for example, set up an interest group for this purpose. This has often been done this way in the past.”
It is unknown what happened to the money.
2024-01-11 22:03:04
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