There have been massive setbacks for traders who put their faith and money in a Bitcoin trading fund called ‘Xmas Promo.’ LÉON a.k.a. @hitsXBT, the trader behind the fund seems to have successfully pulled off an exit scam, but not before deactivating his Twitter along with all secret Telegram chats with investors.

Investors were promised the yields from the Xmas Promo pool today, Dec 23 at 15:30 UTC. Instead, all they are left with now is the defunct social media accounts of the scammer with seemingly no apparent way to get back their investments, let alone the profits that were promised.

Twitter user @stealthbomber21 broke the news about the exit scam earlier today shortly after the perpetrator went missing in action.

A Bitcoin Scam With Obvious Red Flags

The premise of LÉON’s Xmas Promo pool was simple. He asked investors to send him their bitcoins which he would lock up in his private wallet for a pre-specified period. He promised investors that he would trade with their bitcoins and return them the profit as per the agreed period. In return, LÉON would take a small cut for his commission.

Not only that, but LÉON also baited small-time investors by promising them instant 300% returns on their deposits.

LÉON explained the scheme by stating that he was taking a hefty cut from the deposits of whales and redistributing the amount among those with low deposits. Anybody depositing five BTC or more were categorized as ‘whales’ as per the Xmas Promo rule.

Worth noting here is that several users on the cryptocurrency side of Twitter had warned investors that the scheme had all the ingredients of an exit scam. LÉON, who claimed to be a millionaire with a big Bitcoin stash, was called out on several occasions. Eventually, he made his Twitter account private, presumably to avoid any public conversations that could potentially discourage some of his clients/victims.

As it turns out, despite the tell-tale signs of a possible scam, a large number of investors were successfully lured into the Xmas Promo pool.

Telegram Support Group for Those Affected

The exact number of victims is not currently known, although speculations are rife that LÉON might have been able to get his hands on enough bitcoins that reach a total value of approximately several hundred thousands of dollars. According to some, the Xmas Promo pool had hundreds of BTC in deposits, although BeInCrypto is yet to independently verify those claims.

Meanwhile, a Telegram group has been set up for the victims of the scam to get together and coordinate to raise a campaign to get their deposits back.