Kansas wins 'one of its first' civil cases against international crypto scammer
The Kansas Attorney General’s Office recovered money from an international cryptocurrency scammer, which has been notoriously challenging for law enforcement and courts.
The office called it “one of the state’s first successful civil actions against an international internet scammer.”
Local law enforcement in many cases haven’t known if they’re the proper venue for international schemes, haven’t had the expertise to trace cryptocurrency transfers to different digital wallets and haven’t known how to recover stolen digital currencies, according to Bloomberg Law.
“Cryptocurrency is a borderless asset that allows international scammers to target and defraud Kansans from the comfort of a keyboard,” first assistant attorney general Nathanial Castillo said in a press release. “Scammers realize they have a better chance at getting away with fraud if they convince victims to send cryptocurrency. Kansans should always thoroughly scrutinize anyone they meet online before sending payment in cryptocurrency.”
The Federal Bureau of Investigations have traditionally been the most common means for recovering stolen cryptocurrencies — and it did assist the Kansas Attorney General's Office in its investigation — but the growing number of scams has created a growing waitlist for investigations.
The Better Business Bureau reported 67,000 crypto scams in 2023, with about 80% of targets losing money. The median dollar amount lost was $3,800, and total crypto fraud losses in 2023 is estimated at $3.9 billion.
Kansas v. Crypto Scammer
The Kansas Attorney General’s Office charged Bimbo Toyin Akinyemi, of Nigeria, with five counts under the Kansas Consumer Protection Act. Court documents say Akinyemi entered into a contract with an unnamed consumer on July 15, 2023, where the consumer was to purchase bitcoin and deposit it into Akinyemi’s “investment wallet address” for a return on investment between $500 to $1,240.
Akinyemi used the consumer’s lack of knowledge about cryptocurrencies to hide that the use of funds could be traced and gave improper advice that adding funds to a digital wallet “activated” it as an investment account. After the deposits, Akinyemi moved the funds to their own account.
Akinyemi then sent the target a fraudulent $1,000 check by mail, which was never cashed. The Attorney General’s Office said the victim is due a refund of the $250 investment placed, and that Akinyemi is liable for $50,000 in civil penalties for the five violations, $4,000 in investigative fees and expenses to the plaintiff and all court costs.
The judge granted an order for default judgement against Akinyemi after they failed to respond to summons and petitions sent to their email address. Beyond the financial penalties, Akinyemi is also barred from conducting consumer transactions in the state.
This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Crypto scammer gets assets seized after scamming a Kansas consumer
