Washington State Department of Financial Institutions
10/02/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 10/02/2024 14:08
Alleged cryptocurrency platform, Sequoia-platform, appears to be engaged in fraud
The Washington State Department of Financial Institutions (DFI), Securities Division has received a complaint regarding Sequoia-Platform (https://llcswm.com and https://sequoia-platform.com/ ), a purported cryptocurrency trading platform.
The investor learned of the cryptocurrency investment from an online advertisement. After learning of the investment, communication was moved to a messaging application such as WhatsApp or Telegram. The investor communicated with numerous "consultants": Katherine Riftine, Alexandr Shimanov, Vladimir Pinhasov, and Ekaterina Kats.
The investor invested over $22,000 in Bitcoin on the Sequoia-Platform. When attempting to withdraw funds, the investor was required to pay numerous fees. After paying the fees, the investor was still unable to withdraw their funds. In one instance, the investor received a purported stock certificate from the Sequoia-Platform that was supposed to be used to withdraw their funds at an ATM but only if the investor paid $2,000. The investor was threatened with a lawsuit if they did not pay the fee.
A search of the sequoia-platform.com website, shows that the domain has been seized by law enforcement.
DFI has not verified these allegations in the complaint.
This appears to be what is commonly called "Advance Fee Fraud".
DFI urges consumers to exercise extreme caution before responding to any solicitation offering investment or financial services. Investment professionals need to be licensed with DFI to offer investments to Washington residents. In addition, most investment products sold need to be registered with DFI. To check the licensing status and to find out if there are any complaints against an investment professional or investment product, please visit FINRA Brokercheck or contact the Washington State Department of Financial Institutions, Securities Division at (360) 902-8760. If you live outside of Washington State, contact your state securities regulator.
If a consumer believes a person or company has violated state law or acted improperly regarding an investment product or service, they may file a complaint with the Securities Division.
Additional Resources
Virtual Currency, Cryptocurrency, and Digital Assets Information for Consumers