Bitisis, an Iranian-based crypto-currency exchange platform targeting Chinese investors with investment opportunities, has reportedly run an exit scam.
Chinese police are currently investigating the disappearance of the exchange, and it appears that the platform has transferred user assets to three purse addresses after abruptly suspending operations.
However, the addresses in question are on large crypto-currency exchanges and have been frozen. itisis operators are reportedly linked to several other similar exchanges.
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Arbitration fraud?
According to 8btc, Bitisis attracted investors with promises of abundant affiliate referral fee arbitrage opportunities and embarked on an aggressive marketing campaign targeting users of leading Chinese social networking platforms, including Baidu, Zhihu and Tieba.
The alleged fraud also used a sophisticated search engine optimization strategy to attract significant traffic from press releases and other advertising materials.
The report describes Bitisis as a pyramid scheme and a crypto currency exchange, both in one, that allows users to convert Bitcoin (BTC) into their native IRRT token as a means of accessing Tether (USDT).
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However, users attempting to convert from Bitcoin Evolution would reportedly encounter a myriad of withdrawal and verification requirements.
Users report that they eventually received an email informing them that Bitisis had suspended its business, prompting them to hire law enforcement.
Operated by a Chinese citizen
8btc reports that multiple sources have indicated that the operator of Bitisis is actually based in China, and that the platform has been hosted on the servers of Alibaba at the beginning of its operations.
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The operator of Bitisis is reportedly a member of a network that operates multiple exchanges based in various jurisdictions outside of China.
The group is also believed to operate the ‚Bit-Ven‘ scam in Venezuela, which has distributed marketing materials almost identical to those published by Bitisis.