The Washington State Department of Financial Institutions’ Securities Division on Oct. 2, 2024, addressed fraud allegations against cryptocurrency platforms Nasdaqkk.cc and Sequoia-Platform. Both platforms are purported to have misrepresented their affiliations and lured investors into cryptocurrency investment schemes, promising substantial returns but blocking withdrawals.
In the case of Nasdaqkk.cc, an investor was approached via Facebook and subsequently invested $64,000. When attempting to withdraw funds, the investor received a “safety reserve alert” requiring an additional 15% fee to unfreeze their account. The investor refused to pay the fee and was left unable to access their money.
DFI noted:
This appears to be what is commonly called ‘advance fee fraud.’ It also appears to be a common type of cryptocurrency investment scheme that uses social media groups.
The platform falsely claimed an affiliation with the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, which DFI confirmed is not involved in cryptocurrency trading.