Project takes off with $31.6M in alleged exit scam

A crypto project called Fintoch, which claimed to be backed by investment banking firm Morgan Stanley, seems to have taken off with almost $32 million of its users’ funds, according to on-chain detective, ZachXBT. 

In a thread, the crypto sleuth showed a diagram that detailed the movement of the funds. The on-chain detective alleged that the project had likely conducted an exit scam.

It appears the team behind the ponzi @DFintoch has likely exit scammed with 31.6m USDT on BSC after the funds were bridged to multiple addresses on Tron/Ethereum andpeople reported being unable to withdraw

Fintoch advertised 1% daily ROI & claimed to be owned by Morgan Stanley pic.twitter.com/UD3KKfkG97

— ZachXBT (@zachxbt) May 23, 2023

The fund promised a 1% daily interest for investments from users. However, users of the platform have started to report that they are now unable to withdraw their funds from Fintoch. 

In addition to this, while the project claims to be owned by Morgan Stanley, the investment banking company, denied any ties with the project through a statement. The firm said that Fintoch used its trademarks without any authorization and said that they do not assume any responsibility for transactions with the company.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) also issued an alert against Fintoch earlier in May. According to MAS, the company “may have been wrongly perceived as being licensed or in any other way authorized or regulated by MAS.”

Apart from these, reports back in March suggest that the image used for the CEO of the company, called Bobby Lambert, actually belongs to a paid actor whose real name is Mike Provenzano.

Related: $3M worth of customer funds swiped via alleged Swaprum DEX rug pull

In other news, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has issued a warning regarding a recent surge in fraudulent crypto job advertisements. On May 23, the FBI advised United States citizens and individuals residing or traveling abroad to remain cautious, as these deceptive ads are often associated with labor trafficking.

In April, the crypto space experienced a continued surge in crypto exploits, exit scams, and flash loan attacks. According to blockchain security firm Certik, over $103 million in funds was stolen from various crypto projects and investors in the month.

Magazine: US enforcement agencies are turning up the heat on crypto-related crime