Lately, there has been a lot of attention on a company called PointPay, which presents itself as a successful cryptocurrency venture, but is actually a scam – a deceitful startup.
The company lacks licenses and its tokens are hard to exchange for cash. According to the 'Client Agreement', PointPay disclaims all responsibility and essentially cheats its members out of money. Additionally, the project's management is not trustworthy at all.
There has recently been a sensational story in the cryptocurrency community in Russia and beyond. In the Moscow region, law enforcement officials apprehended one of the co-owners of the controversial PointPay company, who had swindled almost 200 million rubles from clients. This was reported by the widely-read Interfax publication. reported They caught a swindler with the same stolen money. Quite embarrassing.
A scammer was apprehended at a private airport hotel in the Serpukhov city district with two suitcases containing cash totaling more than 190 million rubles.
According to Irina Volk, a representative of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation, the investigation has concluded that the detained 'businessman' is one of the actual owners of the online trading platform for buying, selling, or exchanging digital currencies. He controlled the movement of large sums of money in the crypto world and transferred them to cryptocurrency wallets. It seems that this comrade is rotten to the core, and apparently he thought about it and decided to pocket some 'extra' cash for himself. However, luck turned away from him.
A fraudster was apprehended at a hotel near a private airport in the Serpukhov city district with two suitcases full of money, totaling over 190 million rubles.
But that's not all. Law enforcement officials also conducted 29 searches in the homes of the detainee and potential accomplices in several cities: Moscow, St. Petersburg, Novosibirsk, and Yalta. As a result, they confiscated over 50 million rubles, one million dollars, 70 thousand euros, expensive and multifunctional computers, hardware cryptocurrency wallets, important documentation, and luxury goods.
A criminal case has been initiated under Article 160, Part 4 of the Russian Criminal Code for embezzlement. The suspect has been arrested, along with his accounts. Furthermore, a petition has been filed to the court to seize all his assets, which are valued at over 2 billion rubles.
PointPay investors are in a state of panic, as they want to know where their 50 million dollars have gone and are threatening legal action
What's happening within the company itself? Towards the end of last year, just before the aforementioned events related to the scandalous arrest of the co-owner of PointPay, investors were in a panic. This panic did not arise out of nowhere, but there were valid reasons for it. Over the past year, during the initial token offering (ICO), this cryptocurrency project managed to raise over $50 million. However, investors from Russia and the USA are struggling to understand why the project isn't progressing at all despite having such sizeable investments. Large token holders are simply scared of losing their funds due to account freezes.
Journalists tried to reach out to the owner of PointPay, Ilya Zavyalov, on social media but were unsuccessful.
The photo depicts Ilya Zavyalov, who is known for being greedy and keeping a low profile. He is the sole manager of all the project's money. Additionally, he has substantial debts and 4 illegitimate children.
Investors assert that the management shows no interest in the project's development. Although the White Paper indicated a commitment to allocate $21 million, or 42% of the funds raised, for marketing, in reality, only $5,000 – $10,000 is being allocated. For a large cryptocurrency project, this minimal amount of funding does not contribute to development at all.
Furthermore, there are numerous problems such as token price collapses, lack of liquidity on the Uniswap exchange, and failure to fulfill the promise of token buyback.
Another individual accused of causing the project's failure is Andrey Svyatov, the former CEO of the direction.
Svyatov played a significant role in the project's early stages and contributed significantly to its development. He was even promised a 10% share of the tokens, but was ultimately deceived, along with many other employees and chat moderators. Svyatov was even threatened with legal action if he did not leave quietly.
In general, there are many issues within the structure of this cryptocurrency scam, but let's move on from this topic.
PointPay: What kind of office is it?
PointPay is a typical hype platform that presents itself as a successful and fashionable cryptocurrency banking platform. Despite the grand claims, it's actually quite a foolish topic. Why? Take a look for yourself.
1. Phony bank with no licenses
PointPay has no actual involvement in the banking sector. Despite using the term "banking platform" to create the appearance of a legitimate company, it is not the case in reality.
The cryptocurrency project lacks any form of licensing, despite any claims made.
2. Is PointPay a Parasitic Crypto Pyramid?
The company introduced its own crypto based on Ethereum and is now attempting to widely distribute it among market participants by selling it in large quantities. To achieve this, scammers promise 20% annual returns through their referral program. In simple terms, PointPay is a standard crypto pyramid. And we all know how investing in pyramids ends… Hint: Only those at the top can profit, and even that is illusory. Who pays for this? It's funded by new investments from "fresh" participants. Is this something you want to be involved in? Remember the infamous scam with MMM?
3. The offshore registration speaks volumes!
From previous investigations, it is known that Point Pay Ltd has changed its registration information multiple times. Not long ago, the official website stated registration in the UK dating back to 06/25/2018 under No. 11431098. When the truth began to emerge, the company promptly switched to Estonia and then delved further into offshore companies. This information remains available on the Internet to this day. As the saying goes, they don't have enough money to cover their tracks.
So, at the moment, on some sites, including on the FB of the office, the registration data in Tallinn are still indicated: Harju maakond, Tallinn, Kesklinna linnaosa, Tuukri tn 19, 10120.
But on the official website, another offshore address is already indicated: First St. Vincent Bank Ltd Building, P. O Box 1574, James Street, Kingstown, St. Vincent & the Grenadines.
But that’s not all. It is noteworthy that the same offshore address is also listed on the website of a similar fraudulent company Quotex.
Coincidence? We don’t think. Recall that swindlers from Quotex are known for their illegal brokerage activities in Russia.
By the way, here is another confirmation that PointPay is illegally swindling in the Russian Federation. On job sites you can find a bunch of fresh vacanciesand as you can see, not at all at the place of “registration”, but directly in Moscow
Vacancies freshest, for every taste. As they say, take – I do not want. Given that positions are updated every few days, or even every day, 5 options for a “highly paid” job fall out, such offers are not in great demand.
4. There may be problems if you want to withdraw money from PointPay
If we talk about the return of money, then this office does not give absolutely no guarantees. In fact, the participants in this virtual scam exchange their personal real money for some obscure candy wrappers, but what to do next with them is an open question. In fact, here everyone is on their own, the office has renounced any risks or systemic failures.
Here are just some of the points from the “Client Agreement” posted on the company’s website. Agree, it’s sobering. The only problem is that, as a rule, few people read such documents.
Why, when depositors try to withdraw money, the funds may simply not be credited to the crypto wallet. There have been many such cases. So, a similar case is described in the review of one of the customers. Read about it below.
What else to add here? In fact, we are witnessing fraudulent fraud by PointPay for the purpose of illegal enrichment. Scammers are trying to steal other people’s money.
Before investing your finances in any projects that promise “mountains of gold”, carefully study all available sources, consult with experts and do not let scammers deceive you.
5. And finally, a few reviews about PointPay, draw your own conclusions!
To be continued.
