Anyone who has registered in groups on Telegram, WhatsApp or Instagram that have to do with trading crypto assets in the broadest sense will sooner or later come into contact with scammers.

In most cases, the amounts involved are small and bearable. These colleagues often stand out because they are not really the brightest candle on the cake. Fortunately, this means that many scam attempts take care of themselves.

But there are also sophisticated and unscrupulous scammers who can trick you if you don't pay attention to the warning signs. In the Benelux countries and France, there are mafia-like groups at work with a sophisticated strategy.

Here is my own story:

I was contacted by a Dutchman by the name of Benjamin Reymonds (names are, of course, just smoke and mirrors here).

He wanted to buy for € 150,000.00 USDT. A seemingly nice deal for me with a good profit.

So I made my way to Amsterdam to meet the buyer.

The meeting first took place in a small café. From there, we went together to a rented flat to verify and count the money.

A so-called colleague was waiting for us in the flat. Benjamin Reymonds was not there and the other two were supposedly Italians.

The money was counted. I had my own counting machine with me, which counts and checks authenticity.

I was always given bundles of € 5,000.00, which I ran through my machine. Everything was fine up to this point. Then the money was run through one of my customers' counting machines again for checking. Then it was put to one side in a pile and, when it was finished, packed and sealed in a bag.

Of course, I didn't take my eyes off the bag and the pile of money.

After completing this action, we went back to the café mentioned at the beginning. There I was supposed to get the bag and do the wallet transfer.

Said - done!

The customers then quickly left the shop. My wife and I then returned to our car and opened the bag. We realised that the contents were counterfeit money.

How could that happen? I didn't realise that my customers' counting machine was big. Almost like a photocopier.

I am 99.9% sure that the exchange happened in this counting machine. Real money for counterfeit money.

Something like this can certainly be built cheaply in China with the right contacts.

What mistakes have I made?

  • I let myself be impressed by an artificially created deadline pressure.
  • The promised commission was above average, my own greediness was one of my downfalls
  • My actual contact, this Benjamin Reymonds, did not want to/could not be present for the transaction. This is actually a no-go, but here, too, a warning sign was not recognised.
  • Before I took my wallet out of my bag in the café, I should have checked the bag again and at least verified random samples of the money.

Promises of unrealistically high returns are warning signs of fraud

To protect yourself from fraud, the following warning signals should be observed:

  • Unsolicited contact with "safe" USDT trading opportunities.
  • Pressure to act quickly or to take advantage of supposedly unique opportunities.
  • Missing or difficult to verify information on business partners.
  • Request to transfer USDT to unknown wallet addresses.

Krypto Investigation GmbH

After we were cheated and were left with nothing but counterfeit money, we tried to seek help.

All that resulted were further dubious offers. We didn't receive any real help from anyone.

We have finally found a way to help ourselves!

In the end, however, my wife and I were left with the impression that there are numerous victims of fraud who just don't know how to help themselves.

We have therefore decided to provide targeted support to people in similar situations.

The Krypto Investigation GmbH was created.

From a seemingly hopeless and precarious situation, we have built up an effective network with contacts to lawyers, police cybercrime centres and public prosecutors, which we use to our clients' advantage.