The controversy of cryptocurrencies is not going to die any sooner. Right from the time of start till date, crypto investors have always been on a roller coaster journey. Out of many, here are a few cryptocurrency scams that looted people and left them bankrupt during 2018. Check them out!

$530 Million Hack in Japan

Coincheck, one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges in Japan which was founded in 2014, was hacked in January 2018. The exchange had lost $530 million in the hack which was confirmed by the firm in a conference stating that NEM tokens worth $500 million were stolen by the hackers and distributed to 19 different addresses on the network. The exchange had to accept its negligence towards the security threats highlighted by developers, by storing all the NEM tokens in a single hot wallet without using the NEM multisig contract security. Moreover, the exchange was also not officially registered with Japan’s Financial Services Agency, leading to such mishap affecting so many investors.

$51 million Bitcoin Scam in Taipei

One of the biggest cryptocurrency scams that busted in Taipei, charged a group of seven Bitcoin con artists for defrauding crypto investors of $51 million. The fraudsters looted around 6,000 local and international users by promising them returns of up to 355 percent on their cryptocurrency investments. The accused were charged when they did not give any returns in the assured time frame.

680,000 Sites Hacked with Bitcoin Stealing Malware

StatCounter, an Ireland-based web analytics platforms, was hacked in September 2018. The hack was discovered by Matthieu Faou, a malware researcher at ESET cybersecurity firm, who disclosed that hackers were able to break into the platform by adding malicious code to their sites. The attack hacked 680,000 sites at one instant with the main intent to loot Bitcoins from Gate.io users. The details of the hack were not disclosed, however the security break lasted for quite a few days.

$13 Million Cryptocurrency Scams in India

Cashcoin, an Indian cryptocurrency startup, made to the list of top cryptocurrency scams by looting people using fake digital coins. The company stole assets of investors by tempting them with double returns with a period of two months. Initially, the gang repaid the investors with double amounts to attract more people, and then withdrew the amount from the investors’ accounts leading to huge cryptocurrency theft. However, the Mumbai Crime branch, in India, was able to crackdown the scam and catch hold of the culprits behind the scam.

$6 Million MBC Fraud

My Big Coin (MBC) is one of the cryptocurrency startups that allowed people trade crypto coins by simply having an email account. The company stayed in news for quite some time by making one of the biggest cryptocurrency scams using a fraudulent digital currency. It was sued by the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission for luring crypto investors and stealing away $6 million from their accounts. However, the investigation done by the FBI and US Portal Inspection Service has been successful and the founder of MBC, Randall Crater, has ultimately got arrested.