SEC Charges 3 Individuals, 5 Companies for Running “Piggy Bank” Scam

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has charged three individuals and five companies with running “piggy bank” scams, CoinDesk reports. These scams use social media apps to gain the trust of victims, lure them into investing in fake cryptocurrency platforms, and then flee with the money. This is the first time the SEC has taken enforcement action against this type of crypto scam, alleging that the NanoBit platform defrauded at least 18 investors out of nearly $1 million through a fake crypto ecosystem, and that another platform, CoinW6, defrauded at least 11 investors out of a total of $2.2 million. The SEC is cautioning the public to be wary of investment opportunities promoted on social media.