Scammers in China are running fake “CBDC test” groups in response to Chinese cities testing outs its new central bank digital currencies.
Tencent QQ pointed out that scammers in China have started promoting out scams that ask its potential victims to open a new debit card.
Victims are then told that they would receive a “significant amount of money” after an initial investment.
It generally starts around 10,000 yuan ($1430 USD) while being promised that the investment will grow to 70,000 yuan ($10,023) within an undisclosed period.
The scams are appearing most frequently in the cities where the CBDC tests will eventually take place such as:
Shenzhen
Xi’an
Chengdu
Suzhou
However, no authorization was actually given by the Chinese central bank to initiate such kind of tests.
Reportedly, the scammers have designed a mobile app for victims to manage their investments.
Meanwhile, the People’s Bank of China have still not announced on their CBDC pilot program.
Last year, authorities of Chinese banks stated that the upcoming CBDC launch would be announced through official channels.
Recently, Chinese authorities dismantled a significant crypto-related scam in Wenzhou of over 100 million yuan ($14.31 million), seized along with a number of luxury cars and villas.
Source: Cointelegraph | Image: Unsplash