Decripto.org has reported an algorithmic sports trading platform using bitcoin that describes itself as a football speculative investment fund. It is jointly established by the UAE consortium and City Football—two fictitious organizations and is the result of a web search for UEFA Football Crypto Fund.

UEFA Football Crypto was established as an alternative method of betting on soccer investments, i.e., placing large bets in an effort to turn a profit by utilizing people who are enthusiastic about fantasy soccer and sports betting.

Features of UEFA Football Crypto

The report stated, for each new user, there was a welcome bonus on the first deposit, ranging from $2 to $120, depending on the first amount invested by the user: the minimum deposit was merely €20. UEFA Football Crypto was an app that was simple to install on an iOS or Android mobile device.

The register of deposits

As was already indicated, users could invest in the odds of specific athletic events through the UEFA Football Crypto Fund; the lower the odds, the more valuable the investor’s position becomes. Since there were only two daily matches available for betting, the user had the option to specify which match to wager on based on variables including risk percentage, odds trend, and betting prediction.

How did the scam take place?

In other words, even if the user did not win the bet, he would not lose anything because the platform would refund him the odds he had staked. Decripto.org report stated the users who were duped were also promised a refund of losses. Daily interest as a percentage of 2.50 of the capital invested in bets was also promised. The Ponzi pyramid system was obviously utilized in the scam as the report acknowledged.

The operation of a Ponzi scheme

The Ponzi scheme is a deceptive economic sales model where the individual soliciting the investment convinces potential investors that they can make significant gains quickly and risk-free as long as they bring in additional investors. Thus, a traditional pyramid plan of deception is produced.

Millions of euros converted into crypto 

According to Decripto.org, one of the earliest news sources on the crypto and blockchain worlds, this alleged entity, UEFA Football Crypto Fund, defrauded millions of euros from more than 50,000 Italian victims. The victims’ money was then converted into cryptocurrencies and transferred to a number of wallets and exchanges, including Binance, FTX, and OKX. The scammers then converted the cryptocurrencies into dollars as the report stated.

The Italian CONSOB (The National Commission for Companies and the Stock Exchange) blacked out the official website and suspended offering activity to the Italian public for 90 days.

The Italian government has demanded payment of taxes, and users must pay 26% on profits and capital gains, or else the account will be closed, according to a message posted on the UEFA Football Telegram channel after the website went dark. This is obviously another scam within the scam that users should be aware of.

Source:

“Europol Breaks up Multi-Million Euro Internet Fraud Gang.” Reuters, 13 Feb. 2013, www.reuters.com/article/europol-fraud-idUSL5N0BDEHK20130213. Accessed 22 Oct. 2022.

“News: UEFA Football Crypto Fund: A Multi-Million Euro Scam.” Pulse.bitfinex.com, pulse.bitfinex.com/post/News/20221021100814560. Accessed 22 Oct. 2022.