Cryptocurrency Sheik scam: understand what happened!
Learn how the cryptocurrency sheikh scam happened and how you can protect yourself from potential fraud
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It's quite likely that in the last few days, you've heard about the cryptocurrency sheikh scam, right?
Francisley Valdevino da Silva, known as Francis da Silva, a former multi-level marketing entrepreneur, became interested in the cryptocurrency market in 2016, when he was talking to a stranger about the subject.
A few months later, he decided to create the crypto startup Intergalaxy, in Curitiba, Paraná.
With promises of extremely high profits, he managed to attract even famous clients.
However, at the end of 2021, Francis and his group became the target of hundreds of civil lawsuits in the state of São Paulo and Paraná.
And if you want to know more about what really happened and how you can protect yourself from scammers in the cryptocurrency market, keep reading!
How did the business work?
Francis da Silva managed to build a true business group, made up of around 100 companies both in Brazil and abroad.
The main companies are: Rental Coins Information Technology LTDA, Intergalaxy Holding SA, ITX Property Management LTDA and Interag Fund Management LTDA.
In fact, in some of these companies, Francis' mother appears as a partner.
The business conglomerate was identified as “Grupo Interag”.
Well, these “professionals” offered several services related to the cryptocurrency market: renting digital assets, portfolio management, coin storage and much more.
Interested customers purchased these stablecoins (digital currencies considered less volatile) and sent them to Rental Coins. The company would hold the assets for about a year and pay monthly interest.
One of the company's clients did just that. At first, he made a contribution of R$1,000. The promise was that he would receive around R$61,000 in profit every month.
In 12 months, the initial contribution of R$ 1000 became R$ 1700. Thus, he concluded that the business worked and made a new contribution, this time, with the amount of R$ 30 thousand, divided into stablecoins backed by fiat currencies and other cryptocurrencies.
In the first two months, they actually paid. However, after that, according to the customer, the company started blocking withdrawals.
On the Reclame Aqui website, there are over 1000 complaints about the business.
Source: InfoMoney
Cryptocurrency sheikh scam: sheikh tries to sell his mansion for R$64.5 million
The cryptocurrency sheik has put his mansion up for sale for R$64.5 million.
The house is located in Governador Celso Ramos, a seaside resort in Santa Catarina, 50 kilometers from Florianópolis, the state capital.
With seven floors, the mansion is a symbol of the Sheik's opulence, which, unfortunately, deceived many people, including Sasha Meneghel, daughter of Xuxa and Luciano Szafir.
According to Antonio Goto, president of the InterAG Franchisees Association, the businessman is trying to sell the house to invest in the recovery of his company and pay off debts with all investors.
However, he made it very clear that for this to happen, businessman Francis da Silva (the sheik) must first of all suspend the judicial blocks.
There are several photos showing what the sheik's mansion looks like. The house, which is located in the Recanto dos Mares Condominium, has approximately 2 thousand meters of built area, in addition to a beautiful view of the sea.
Sasha Meneghel and her husband fall for cryptocurrency sheikh's scam
Sasha Meneghel and her husband João Figueiredo were victims of this scam that caused losses to a large number of customers.
The couple ended up losing R$1.2 million due to this fraud. They met Francis at an evangelical church.
At first, they invested R$50,000. However, later, they decided to sign a contract with investments exceeding R$1 million.
Rental Coins, in this case, promised returns that could reach up to 8.5% of the amount invested, with an operation known as “cryptocurrency rental”.
The couple did not receive the promised return and, for this reason, decided to report Rental Coins, with a lawsuit for material damage and alleging fraud.
In addition to celebrities, the sheikh also deceived pastors and other believers.
He told O Globo that his business group is undergoing restructuring and, as a result, has not paid the promised monthly income. In a statement, he said that payments will resume in October.
Furthermore, according to the publication, the sheikh is being investigated on suspicion of a crime against the national financial system.
Source: Uol
How to avoid cryptocurrency fraud and scams?
The cryptocurrency sheikh scam is not the only scam involving digital assets that has recently appeared in the media.
With the rise of the digital assets market and high valuations, several malicious people have emerged, taking advantage of the moment to apply financial scams.
With that in mind, we’ll give you some tips to help you protect your digital assets:
• Be wary of promises of quick and excessively high gains. In fact, be even more wary of promises of “guaranteed returns”.
• Never provide your personal data to third parties or to digital platforms that you have never used before
• Always look for information about the company, founders and partners
• Be careful with financial pyramids. If someone tells you that in order to make a profit, you need to “bring in new investors or friends and family”, be suspicious immediately.
• Know exactly how the company makes money
• Beware of phishing (a cybercrime that tricks people into sharing personal data)
• Beware of “limited time” promotions in the cryptocurrency market. To attract investors as quickly as possible, some scammers claim that the investment is something exclusive and valuable.
As you can see, you need to be careful in this market. If you have any suspicions, do not invest your money.
Do research on the internet to understand if the company is really trustworthy and also go to the Reclame Aqui website to see what customers are saying about the company in question.
Conclusion
The cryptocurrency sheikh's scam has caused serious financial losses to its victims.
It is not yet known what will happen. However, lawyers representing some of Francis' clients have already found other assets belonging to Francis, such as a mansion in Rio de Janeiro and a R$79 million jet.
