A confidence trick (synonyms include confidence scheme and scam) is an attempt to defraud a person or group after first gaining their confidence. A confidence artist (or con artist) is an individual, operating alone or in concert with others, who exploits characteristics of the human psyche such as dishonesty, honesty, vanity, compassion, credulity, irresponsibility, naïveté, or greed.
All stories in Confidence trick
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Google Ads is infested with investment scams that earn it millions
Neither the UK's financial watchdog or Google seem prepared to do much about an epidemic of investment scams on its ad platform. ...
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Thailand launches probe into $2.46M cryptocurrency pyramid ‘scam’
Thailand's government is launching an investigation into a cryptocurrency pyramid scheme that allegedly swindled more than $2.46 ...
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Filipino billionaire denies endorsing Bitcoin 'scam'
The Philippines' richest man has denied his involvement in a purported Bitcoin trading scam that's known for allegedly using ...
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Alleged head of $3.5M crypto mining scam bought stake in nightclub
A man in the US is being sued by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for allegedly running a fraudulent cryptocurrency ...
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UK money saving expert featured in fake cryptocurrency ads on Instagram — AGAIN!
It's 2020, you'd think by now cryptocurrency scammers would have moved on from using unendorsed celebrity images to peddle ...
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2019's juiciest crypto drama: The saga of OneCoin’s $4B ‘cryptocurrency’ scam
Hardly a week goes by without a new piece of information emerging about the OneCoin cryptocurrency scam, so here’s everything ...
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Directors of bogus Ugandan cryptocurrency startup charged after 4,000 investor complaints
After appearing in court this week, the full impact of Dunamiscoins Ltd. a Uganda-based cryptocurrency scam is starting to ...
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That $2B Ponzi scheme caught dumping Bitcoin just moved its $105M Ether stash
PlusToken's enormous Ethereum stack is on the move, just days after cryptocurrency analysts revealed exactly it dumps its ...
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Bitcoin's failing price could be caused by $2B Chinese Ponzi scheme dumping its crypto
Cryptocurrency researchers have posited that market dumps from a major Ponzi scheme is keeping the price of Bitcoin down. ...
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Twitter scumbags scam 64-year-old lady out of $158K Bitcoin fortune
Two men have pleaded guilty to defrauding a 64-year-old woman out of more than $158,000 worth of Bitcoin.
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Alleged Bitcoin scam that raised $359M busted by Brazilian police
Police in Brazil have busted a purported Bitcoin investment scheme that allegedly stole $359 million (1.5 million reais) ...
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FBI and US Marshals warn of heinous scammers demanding payments via Bitcoin ATMs
The United States Marshals and Federal Bureau of Investigation don't want you to forget about Bitcoin scammers pretending ...
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Police arrest head of $2.7M Ugandan cryptocurrency scam
Police have arrested one of the directors of a cryptocurrency startup in Uganda that closed suddenly and made off with investors' ...
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24 Chinese nationals arrested in Thailand over alleged Bitcoin call center scam
Authorities have busted a call center in Thailand and arrested 24 Chinese nationals for allegedly running a Bitcoin investment ...
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Telegram shills refuse to accept OneCoin is a scam as websites go offline
Some of the websites associated with “cryptocurrency” scam OneCoin have been taken offline as legal investigations into ...
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Bitcoin fraudsters target head of $230B fund in latest Facebook scam
The CEO of Singapore's Temesek has been used to peddle Bitcoin scams on Facebook, the latest incarnation of a long-running ...
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New York judge rules US government can intervene in $7M Bitcoin scam
The US government will be able to intervene in a civil case against Jon Barry Thompson, a man charged with running a fraudulent ...
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OneCoin lawyer found guilty in $4B cryptocurrency scam
The US lawyer who made $50 million after routing $400 million on behalf of the OneCoin cryptocurrency scam has been found ...
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FBI spoke with George Bush's brother over $300K meeting with OneCoin's missing 'Cryptoqueen'
A recent trial involving OneCoin's alleged money launderer has received a strange connection to the brother of former US ...
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Brother of OneCoin's 'Cryptoqueen' pleads guilty, could serve 90 years in prison
Konstantin Ignatov pleaded guilty to money laundering and fraud charges for his role in the multi-billion dollar OneCoin ...
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Aussie 'E-Crime Squad' arrests crypto exchange owner, seizing his Bitcoin ATM
Australian detectives have arrested a 38-year-old man as part of an investigation into unregistered cryptocurrency exchange. ...
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Facebook must remove fake Bitcoin ads featuring Big Brother creator or pay $1.2M
The billionaire creator of the 'Big Brother' television format, John de Mol, has been successful in forcing Facebook to take ...
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Lawyer accused of laundering $300M in OneCoin cryptocurrency scam stands trial
The lawyer who allegedly laundered some of the proceeds from the multi-billion dollar OneCoin cryptocurrency scam is currently ...
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US fines founders of 'worthless cryptocurrency' over $4.25M binary options scam
A US federal court has ordered defendants to pay $4.25 million in penalties as a result of operating a virtual currency scam ...
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Belgian watchdog's list of scammy cryptocurrency ventures grows to 131 sites
The Belgian Financial Services and Markets Authority is still having to warn netizens about cryptocurrency scams. Its list ...
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PSA: Tell your parents to never wire you money before calling you first
During our weekly TNW editorial meeting earlier today, I got a call from my father, which is something that doesn’t happen ...
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Former NBA player nets $825K from Ghanaian firm in alleged Bitcoin scam
A former American professional basketball player has allegedly swindled over $800,000 worth of Bitcoin from a company based ...
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Opportunistic fraudsters use El Chapo’s son’s arrest in bid to steal Bitcoin
Opportunistic scammers are seeking to capitalize on the incident by reportedly bombarding the city's residents with threatening ...
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Victim of $5B OneCoin cryptocurrency scam gets death threats for speaking out
One of the victim's of the OneCoin cryptocurrency scam is receiving death threats for her actions against the con artists. ...
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Sextortion scammers pivot from Bitcoin to Litecoin for better blackmailing
Recent iterations of the infamous sextortion phishing scam are demanding Litecoin, as email filters now automatically flag ...
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Cryptocurrency firm slapped with cease-and-desist after impersonating registered financial adviser
Missouri-based cryptocurrency company Mavixbtc Limited has been handed a cease-and-desist order for allegedly misleading ...
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Watch this Bitcoin scammer get called out directly over Skype
Dutch journalist and TV presenter, Jort Kelder, called out a Bitcoin scammer over Skype following the illicit use his face. ...
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Bitcoin fraudsters impersonate Canadian police to steal over $18,000
Police in Canada have issued warnings about a Bitcoin scam after two citizens reportedly lost $18,764.50 (CAD $25,000) to ...
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Bitcoin scammers impersonate Buckingham palace in attempted Brexit ruse
Just when you thought Bitcoin scammers couldn’t stoop any lower, they’ve now taken to impersonating Buckingham Palace. ...
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The sad and peculiar case of Satowallet’s alleged $1M cryptocurrency exit scam
Users of cryptocurrency wallet Satowallet have been unable to access their funds for quite some time, and now the CEO has ...
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Bitcoin scammers are already impersonating Bakkt just days after its launch
Just days after its launch, we are seeing cryptocurrency con artists impersonate Bitcoin futures platform Bakkt to scam unwitting ...
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Moonday Mornings: Kate Winslet is hunting for Bitcoin scammers
It's that time of the week again when we serve you up a fresh plate of blockchain and cryptocurrency headlines from over ...
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Big Brother billionaire suing Facebook over Bitcoin ads says agreement ‘is impossible’
It's been three months since de Mol sued Facebook over fraudulent Bitcoin, and now he says the firm's co-operation has been ...
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Moonday Mornings: North Korea denies earning $2B by hacking cryptocurrency exchanges and banks
We've collected a set of choice news articles about Bitcoin and blockchain that surfaced this past weekend for you to read. ...
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Researchers discover malware that records users' screens when they watch porn
Researchers from antivirus developer ESET recently discovered a new form of spam-delivered malware that threatens to steal ...
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Cryptocurrency scammers conned Australians out of $14.8M in just 7 months
Cryptocurrency investment scams in Australia cost victims a record $14.76 million between January and July this year.
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5 charged in connection with $2.7M Australian cryptocurrency scam
Australian police have charged five people in connection with a protracted cold call cryptocurrency investment scam that ...
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Unsuspecting victims were cryptojacked 52.7 million times in the first half of 2019
Criminals made a staggering 52.7 million cryptojacking hits during the first six months of the year. According to the ...
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Bullish Brits lost $34M to cryptocurrency scams last year
British investors lost £27 million ($34.38 million) to cryptocurrency scams over the last financial year, according to one ...
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What's a cryptocurrency exit scam and how do I spot one?
Google ‘cryptocurrency’ and the likelihood is you’ll see ‘exit scam’ somewhere in the results. But, what are they, ...
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Bitcoin scammers texted victims informing them they’d been conned out of $30,000
After putting over $30,000 into fake Bitcoin investments, a pair of amateur investors received a WhatsApp message telling ...
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India bank manager arrested in cryptocurrency Ponzi scheme crackdown
The allure of fast profits from cryptocurrency appears to have been too great for one bank manager in India who has been ...
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Indian scammers stole $2M in cryptocurrency using inspirational Bill Gates quotes
In spite of repeated warnings by the country's central bank, people in India continue to fall for cryptocurrency scams.
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Cyber criminals steal $27M in Bitcoin by impersonating popular cryptocurrency exchange
Police agencies from the UK and the Netherlands have arrested six people in connection with the theft of €24 million ($27 ...
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Watch out: Calìbra.com isn’t the same as Facebook's Calibra.com
Opportunistic scammers are taking advantage interest in Facebook's cryptocurrency attempting to con people out of Ethereum ...
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Report: Google Maps hosts 'millions' of fake business listings
But not all the listings on the app are reliable. Yesterday, the Wall Street Journal reported that Google Maps have over ...
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Swede facing extradition to US over $11M Bitcoin investment scam
A Swedish citizen has been charged with securities, wire fraud, and money laundering in a scheme that saw him encourage victims ...
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British Bitcoin scammer nets $50M running fake Bitcoin trading site
A British Bitcoin scammer based in the United Arab Emirates has admitted to a con that duped people, all over the world, ...
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Indian police arrest 78 in Bitcoin call center scam
A call center scam that targeted US citizens and requested payment in Bitcoin has been busted by police in India resulting ...
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Blockchain startups RepuX and JoyToken pull exit scam after raising $8M in ICOs
Even thought it's 2019, ICO exit scams are still being uncovered. The latest to surface has seemingly conned over $8 million ...
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55,000 Brazilians scammed out of $200M+ worth of fake cryptocurrency
A Brazilian crime ring has been shut down after conning over 55,000 investors for over $200 million by promising fake returns ...
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Bitcoin scammers net nearly $1M by telling people they can see them masturbate
A new kind of scam has accrued almost $1 million in bitcoin from frightened porn viewers, says a new report -- and they're ...
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The GitHub extortion victims are outsmarting their Bitcoin scammers
Blackmailers wiping GitHub repositories and withholding code to extort Bitcoin from their victims haven't made enough to ...
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Jersey man puts $1.5M life savings in Bitcoin scam, loses everything
A resident of the self-governing British island, Jersey, was duped for 18-months and has lost their life-savings of $1.5 ...
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$356 million in cryptocurrency stolen in first three months of 2019
Cryptocurrency exit scammers and exchange hackers have made a killing this year, and soon they'll have to launder it all... ...
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Australian cryptocurrency scams earned $4.3 million last year, up 190%
Australia's consumer watchdog has detailed the extent of the nation's problem with cryptocurrency fraud - and the data says ...
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Damned OneCoin scammers stole $2.3M from Kiwis using Samoan churches
Yet another organization thought to be tied the multi-billion dollar cryptocurrency Ponzi scheme OneCoin has been uncovered. ...
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Police bust 2 goons linked to $3B OneCoin cryptocurrency pyramid scheme
Two men were charged in Singapore today for promoting a cryptocurrency-based multi-level marketing scheme. Local police believe ...
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South Korean police use AI to bust $19M Bitcoin-fuelled pyramid scam
M-Coin is the latest cryptocurrency Ponzi scheme busted. This one was worth a whopping $19 million, and it targeted the elderly ...
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Belgian watchdog adds 7 new scams to its cryptocurrency blacklist
A Belgian regulator is warning citizens about the associated risks of dealing with cryptocurrencies after identifying seven ...
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Australian celebs targeted in long-running Bitcoin scam on Facebook
Bitcoin fraudsters are still using celebrities to promote their scams on Facebook and dupe investors out of money.
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Bitcoin scammers swindled UK investors out of $19M last year
Action Fraud has found that in the 12 months leading up to March 19, 2019, UK investors lost over £15 million ($19 million) ...
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US regulator blacklists Colorado trader for orchestrating $1.5M Bitcoin scam
A man in the US has been barred from trading following his alleged involvement in a Bitcoin scam that resulted in losses ...
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Bitcoin scammer boasts $760,000 payday through dark web domain squatting
A scammer is claiming to have made 200 BTC ($760,000) through 'typosquatting' criminal dark web sites on the Tor network, ...
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PSA: Don't use this fake Wasabi wallet to 'store' your Bitcoin
Watch out! Wasabi, the popular anonymizing cryptocurrency wallet, has been been duped by scammers in an apparent bid to steal ...
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Cryptocurrency platform Augur can't fix 'invalid market' scam without huge update
Decentralized betting protocol Augur is dealing with fraudsters gaming the system, but there's not much its devs can do about ...
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Blackmailers are posing as CIA agents to steal your Bitcoin
The Bitcoin sextortion scam has evolved: cryptocurrency fraudsters are now pretending to be the CIA in bid to fool you into ...
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Here are the 3 ways OneCoin defrauded cryptocurrency investors for billions
Another multi-billion dollar Pyramid scheme run by corrupt cryptocurrency crooks has been busted - but how in the hell was ...
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Bitcoin pyramid scheme leaves Kenyans out of pocket after exit scam
A long-running Bitcoin pyramid scheme has pulled its inevitable exit scam, leaving a number of investors severely out-of-pocket. ...
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Twitter's cryptocurrency scam bots are back with a fresh new look
More cryptocurrency scam bots have been spotted in the wild (Twitter), but these look way better than previous incarnations ...
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Scam ICO advertised on CoinMarketCap busted by police in India
Criminal investigation authorities in the Indian state of Gujarat have booked five people for running fraudulent initial ...
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Cryptocurrency named after India’s ‘Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?’ ends in $250K scam
Police in India's financial hub Mumbai has booked a local resident Pritam Patil for duping $250,000 out of 12 people in a ...
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Bitcoin.com’s Roger Ver is still shilling ICOs like it’s 2017
The controversial ICO trend may have fallen out of fashion for most cryptocurrency influencers, but Bitcoin.com CEO Roger ...
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Blackmailers made $332,000 in Bitcoin during ‘sextortion’ scam
Cybercriminals raked in more than $300,000 in Bitcoin payments during a 'sextortion' email-based blackmail campaign, according ...
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12 Bitcoin scammers extradited to US for selling fake cars on eBay
An international cryptocurrency fraud cartel has been busted by a joint investigation between US and foreign authorities. ...
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Bitcoin con artists charged with $51M investment scam
A group of Bitcoin con artists has been charged with running an elaborate cryptocurrency scam that defrauded local and foreign ...
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Australian BitConnect boss hit with asset freeze and travel ban
Authorities have frozen the assets of BitConnect promoter John Bigatton, as investigations into the world's biggest cryptocurrency ...
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5 ludicrous cryptocurrency exit scams that regretfully happened in 2018
Exit scams refer to cunning plots, whereby blockchain startups collect investors money only to disappear suddenly, along ...
