The United Kingdom is host to at least 168 companies accused of running fraudulent crypto or foreign exchange scams according to an independent analysis.by media firms the Bureau of Investigative Journalism and the Observer suggested organized crime groups are using the U.K. as their base due to its “lax regulation.”
is an insidious scheme where the scammer builds trust with the victim — often incorporating romance — before convincing them to deposit money or crypto onto a trading platform or virtual wallet the scammer controls. Victims were often approached on social media or through dating websites such as Tinder according to the report.
Registering a company in the U.K. costs as little as $14.85 and requires no form of identification, making it easy for fraudulent companies to register there and gain “sham credibility.”