- An alleged Dogecoin (DOGE) mining scam happened in Turkey.
- The scheme’s suspected operator has gone missing with $119 million worth of Dogecoin.
- Investors were promised to get returns of 100% in 40 days.
YEREVAN (CoinChapter.com) — On August 23rd, Turkish local channel TV100 reported that police identified a pseudonym “Turgut V” as the alleged mastermind behind a Dogecoin scam. It scammed people off 350 million DOGE worth around $119 million.
One of the investors said that the scammer promised him 100% return in 40 days by investing his money in a Dogecoin mining operation.
For the first three months, the operation was running and paying returns as promised. But during the fourth month, the total value locked reached 350 million Dogecoin, and that’s when the money and the alleged scammer vanished.
According to Turkish authorities, 1,500 investors transferred DOGE to Turgut throughout the three months the scam was operating. As reported, Turgut had 11 associates who are under investigation.
A typical cloud mining scam ft Dogecoin
Dogecoin mining is almost the same as bitcoin mining.
Both networks use proof-of-work to create new coins. In this process, participants or miners must validate transactions by solving complex equations. With more powerful pieces of equipment, the chance of solving the equation and getting the reward, which is all the new cryptocurrencies in the mined block, goes higher.
Turgut promoted Dogecoin mining and managed to lure people into transferring DOGE to their fraudulent scheme by organizing one-on-one networking meetings with them at luxurious venues and using a Telegram group.
The scammer told Investors that he would spend the raised capital on getting new Dogecoin mining equipment; therefore, they could get a good profit out of it.
Turkish prosecutors are now carrying out an ongoing investigation to find the suspects. Authorities also banned Turgut from leaving the country.
Dogecoin, also known as memecoin, is the seventh-largest cryptocurrency, with $36.25 billion.
DOGE creators originally wanted to make a payment system a joke, but now it has real value. It even has its foundation for improving payment methods. One of the Dogecoin Foundation’s strategic advisors is Ethereum co-founder Vitalin Buterin and a representative of Elon Musk, the Tesla CEO.
