A Google forum poster under the user name Kazuo Kusunose claims to have lost $15,000 trying to participate in what they described as a “new Chinese cryptocurrency sale,” which brought them to the Yuan Pay Group website.
Based on the forum post, the suspicious website is allegedly attempting to take advantage of the rumored digital yuan that China is working on in a bid to launch its central bank digital currency (CBDC). The ad states that “China Launched New Yuan,” intriguing this particular user.
The alleged cryptocurrency scam is done via a platform dubbed Coindaq.io, according to Kazuo Kusunose. When the user clicked the ad, they landed on the Yuan Pay Group page. According to them, the alleged siphoning of funds takes place on the Coindaq.io page. Users are directed to the platform to open an account and deposit funds to participate in the sale of the digital yuan.
The Yuan Pay Group page looks similar to other ICO-like cryptocurrency projects and presents itself as the only entity approved to sell and trade China’s digital yuan. The alleged scammers also use the images of Peter Thiel and Richard Branson as part of their “legal feedback.”
Alleged Crypto Scams Cracking Through Google’s Ad Policies
The advertised website appears to be used as a buffer before the user is seemingly automatically redirected to the Yuan Pay Group page. This user appears to have fallen into a false sense of security.
The alleged scammers are also using the “Coindaq” name, which is a crypto analytics platform but not an exchange platform and resides under the .net top-level domain. In their complaint, the investor is requesting Google check into the ad to help prevent further fraud.
Google has imposed strict guidelines and has been in the past wary of promoting cryptocurrencies. While Google does allow some crypto ads, they are restricted to crypto hardware products and crypto exchanges, according to the company’s ad policies.
In recent months, Google’s ad policies have been bypassed already by scammers. BeInCrypto previously reported that Uniswap phishing scams appeared on the ad platform.