{"id":15340,"date":"2023-10-05T08:27:09","date_gmt":"2023-10-05T12:27:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/coincentral.com\/?p=15340"},"modified":"2023-10-06T12:10:47","modified_gmt":"2023-10-06T16:10:47","slug":"usi-tech-crypto-scam","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/coincentral.com\/usi-tech-crypto-scam\/","title":{"rendered":"How USI Tech Pulled off One of the Largest Crypto Scams"},"content":{"rendered":"

In this article, we look at USI Tech\u2019s cryptocurrency scam. While it\u2019s one thing to know that a project has committed fraud, it\u2019s even more important to truly understand the characteristics to prevent such an incident from happening to you. <\/span><\/p>\n

Here’s how USI Tech pulled off a Ponzi scam costing its investors tens of millions of dollars.<\/span><\/p>\n

What Exactly Is USI Tech?<\/b><\/h2>\n

USI Tech (United Software Intelligence Technology) is a company that claimed to develop the world\u2019s first automated trading platform for Bitcoin (BTC)<\/a>. Starting in May 2017, USI Tech started concentrating on selling BTC packages to traders and miners who wanted to automate these activities. <\/span><\/p>\n

At first, a lot of people bought into this plan. However, after some time, they began to increasingly suspect that USI Tech was really a Ponzi scheme. But how did the company pull it off in the first place?<\/span><\/p>\n

USI Tech Owners<\/b><\/h2>\n

A lot of cryptocurrency project websites provide tons of relevant information about founders and team members. However, many also do not. In the case of USI Tech, the latter was true. On the project website, there wasn\u2019t much info about who the USI Tech owners were. Furthermore, the site didn’t provide much information about the products that USI Tech was selling. <\/span><\/p>\n

What we do know is that Joao Severino and Ralf Gold founded the project. Before starting USI Tech, Severino was banned from all financial activity in Portugal because of his involvement with another scam company called AMC Invest. Even worse, Ralph Gold had been involved in all sorts of Ponzi scheme companies. These included AdsProfitReward, MX Fast Money, World Consumer Alliance, HourlyRevShare, AdsProfitWiz, APR Clicks, and Upper Game. <\/span><\/p>\n

The company also claimed to be based in Dubai. However, the registration of the business is actually from <\/span>Ras al Khaimah, another city in the United Arab Emirates that is well known for its offshore business registration services.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"screenshot
As of November 2018, USI Tech’s homepage is just a simple login page.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

How Did the USI Tech Claim That Users Could Make Money?<\/b><\/h2>\n

BTC packages started out at around 50 Euros each. The more packages you bought, the higher your return would be, allegedly. USI Tech\u2019s automated software was supposed to provide a way for users to make passive income. The returns (one percent daily payout on average over five days per week) sounded promising to some people. The company also claimed to offer a staggering 140 percent return over the course of a 140-day package. It also stated (without proof) that some people had already received 150 percent returns.<\/span><\/p>\n

Looking at these promises, it\u2019s clear that this was too good to be true. However, put in context with the bull market of late 2017 and the introduction of new\/eager traders, it\u2019s easy to see how some people could fall for this. Still, there were other factors that pointed to the malicious nature of the company. For example, USI Tech openly operated as a multilevel network marketing company, which made many people view it as a pyramid scheme from the start.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"USI
USI Tech shut down its operations in the US and Canada in early 2018.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

USI Tech Update: Timeline of Events<\/b><\/h2>\n