At the beginning of the week, users of the South Korean cryptocurrency exchange PureBit had a rude awakening when they realized that the exchange’s owner had pulled a fast one and had run off with their money. They were out about 13,000 Ether (ETH) tokens – worth around $2.8 million at the time – with nothing more than an “I’m sorry” from the owner. It now appears that the would-be fraudster has had a change of heart and is beginning to issue refunds.
Immediately after the scam, the crypto community, including a number of exchanges, rallied together to start to track the movements of the digital assets. The news made the airwaves around the world, helping support efforts to prevent the coins from getting too far. All of the work paid off, with the Upbit exchange ultimately freezing several accounts tied to the fraudsters.
Those initiatives undoubtedly played a part in preventing a catastrophe, as well as compelling the exchange owner to have a change of heart. Partial refunds have already started to be delivered and the company has promised to refund all of the ETH that was taken.
In a statement released by PureBit through local media channels, the scamming CEO said that he had made an “unforgiveable mistake.” The announcement went on to say, “This is Pure Bit. First off, I would like to apologize to everyone that was affected by the ICO. Since November 5, I raked in 16,000 ETH and did not open a crypto exchange as promised. I kicked out everyone in our social media chat groups and disappeared without any message. I negatively affected investors in the project psychologically and financially.
“I made an unforgivable mistake that cannot be turned around, blinded by money. It has been less than a day and I have already started to suffer from guilt. Although it cannot be compared with the hardship faced by the investors, I also felt significant guilt. I sincerely apologize to all of the investors in the ICO [initial coin offering] who were affected by the operation.”
The ICO referred to was a PureBit ICO that had attracted $30 million. In addition to the ETH stolen, the would-be criminal had also tried to run off with those funds, as well.
The CEO went on to say that the guilt had been too much, leading to his decision to issue the refunds. More than likely, it wasn’t the guilt as much as it was the angry mob with torches and pitchforks ready to attack.
Note: Tokens on the Bitcoin Core (segwit) Chain are Referred to as BTC coins. Bitcoin Cash (BCH) is today the only Bitcoin implementation that follows Satoshi Nakamoto’s original whitepaper for Peer to Peer Electronic Cash. Bitcoin BCH is the only major public blockchain that maintains the original vision for Bitcoin as fast, frictionless, electronic cash.
The post PureBit exchange operator repents, issues refunds after exit scam appeared first on Coingeek.
Crypto traders using the South Korean exchange PureBit understand why Mondays are typically considered to be bad days. Over the weekend, the small exchange suddenly and unexpectedly turned off its lights and locked its doors, walking away with 13,000 Ethereum. The Kakao social media account of the exchange’s founder offered little to appease the investors – it carried a simple caption of “I’m sorry.”
According to a report by South Korean media outlet EDaily, the exchange had only been operational since September 9. There are reportedly several hundred users, possibly more, affected by the closure.
The exchange was apparently a scam all along. Business registration documents were allegedly falsified and it had misrepresented itself to investors, claiming to be a part of corporations that do not exist.
When it began to go offline, it began to kick out all participants of its forum on Kakao Talk and closed its homepage. Several quick-thinking viewers were able to capture screenshots and site data, which should aid in the investigation.
PureBit had launched an initial coin offering (ICO) behind its Pure Coin cryptocurrency as part of the scam. It collected investments from individuals, ultimately receiving around $2.8 million in Ethereum. The exchange has reportedly been trying to move the crypto through several exchanges, including Upbeat and Binance, which means that there is at least some ability to track the theft.
Upbeat is already working to ensure that access to the stolen funds cannot be used. It said that it has confirmed the arrival of Ether to its platform and that it can “arbitrarily withdraw [the Ether] deposited into the account in accordance with the terms and conditions of use restrictions.” It added, “We have taken measures to stop the suspension, including suspension of withdrawal.”
ICOs are banned in South Korea, but PureBit was targeting international buyers. Pure Coin was billed as an “exchange coin,” which is seen by many as a source of guaranteed returns. However, the PureBit ICO only guaranteed returns for its operator.
As the cryptocurrency industry matures, detecting theft and scams are becoming easier. Since the exchanges to which the crypto assets were sent have already, to a certain degree, already identified suspicious activity related to the PureBit exit scam, it’s only a matter of time before law enforcement is able to resolve the issue.
Note: Tokens on the Bitcoin Core (segwit) Chain are Referred to as BTC coins. Bitcoin Cash (BCH) is today the only Bitcoin implementation that follows Satoshi Nakamoto’s original whitepaper for Peer to Peer Electronic Cash. Bitcoin BCH is the only major public blockchain that maintains the original vision for Bitcoin as fast, frictionless, electronic cash.
The post PureBit exchange pulls exit scam, runs of with almost $3M in ETH appeared first on Coingeek.
