Thailand crypto mining scam allegedly victimizes 140

Accusations have come out against a crypto mining scam in Bangkok, Thailand. Victims are alleging CryptoMining.Farm defrauded them for 43 million baht ($1.34 million), reports the Bangkok Post.

Thirty victims have come forward in the complaint, but police believe the company took money from 140 total investors, all of them scammed by the mining scheme. Their complaint was lodged on February 17 with the Technology Crime Suppression Division.

The site’s owner, who is believed to be Pimongkol Tawpibarn, promised 70% guaranteed returns per year, and would allow withdrawals at any time, no questions asked.

Based on the timeline of what happened, it appears the scam offered promises they just could not keep once the crypto market started its steep decline in 2018. “But from August the owner began imposing conditions for withdrawing the money,” the victim claimed. “Then at the start of this month, the site announced it would start paying back investors in 84 instalments – which would take over seven years to complete.”

The problem here seems to be much more about lofty promises made that just couldn’t be kept with the current state of the crypto market. That will be for a judge to decide though.

In November, three siblings, one of whom is actor Jiratpisit ‘Boom’ Jaravijit, were accused of another crypto scam. The family was accused of stealing $24 million worth of Bitcoin Core (BTC) from a Finnish investor. The family then allegedly flipped the BTC to buy land, rather than invest it in the cryptos the Finnish man had intended to purchase.

Thailand is friendly to blockchain and cryptocurrency technology for the most part. The country has put pieces in place to have a blockchain-powered election in the near future, and the country has a strong overall demand for cryptocurrency. The industry there will be hoping that these scams are the exception rather than the rule, or they will risk public disfavor for the emerging technologies.