Cryptocurrency platforms have been fraudulently using the faces of some of the U.K.’s Dragons’ Den investors to promote their services. The idea is to dupe naive would-be investors into parting with their cash.
Dragons Deny Involvement in Any Such Cryptocurrency Platforms
According to a report in the U.K.’s Telegraph newspaper, cryptocurrency trading platforms have been using images and testimonials from member of the Dragons’ Den panel of investors to hawk their products. As well as using fraudulent advertising, these websites make outlandish claims about their own profitability.
One such platform is called Bitcoin Trader. They claim to provide an automatic service to trade various cryptos. According to their marketing materials, it’s possible to make $13,000 per day using their algorithms. This apparently takes around just 20 minutes a day.
To promote their services, Bitcoin Trader and others have claimed to have received investment from Peter Jones and Deborah Meaden, two of the Dragons. Apparently, Jones had invested £2 million in Bitcoin Trader. For this, he received a 25 percent share of the company. Meanwhile, Meaden tested the service ‘live’ on Dragons’ Den. She invested just £250 and eight minutes later had turned it into £350.
According to the Telegraph, both Dragons have stated that they have nothing to do with the scheme. Meanwhile, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the U.K.’s financial regulator, has warned the public that these companies are unregulated by themselves.
Back in April, the FCA issued a warning about the parent company of a similar service to Bitcoin Trader. They stated that CryptoPoint had not been regulated in the U.K.:
“This firm is not authorised by us and is targeting people in the U.K. Based upon information we hold, we believe it is carrying on regulated activities which require authorisation.”
One victim of the scam companies told the Telegraph about his ordeal with CryptoPoint. The retired joiner said that he’d been lured into signing up after seeing a fake news story online. He was then pressured by a sales representative to invest as much money as possible into the platform. He became wary when the representative started to request specific personal details that such a company shouldn’t need.
The pensioner has since received a partial refund from CryptoPoint. However, the firm kept £75 of a £300 investment he made with them. This was to cover the platform’s ‘fees’ – despite the fact that they didn’t actually do anything for him.
This isn’t the first time that such a scam has been pulled using famous faces. In fact, it’s not even the first time that Dragons’ Den stars have been used. In March, we reported on Bitcoin Trader using the stars of the Irish version of the show to promote their services. The faces of the famous investment magnates are clearly thought to carry with them the level of trust needed for such a fraudulent operation to be successful. Either that or the folks behind Bitcoin Trader just really like dragons.
