Colorado issues orders to three suspected ICO frauds

Colorado’s Securities Commission has issued orders for three cryptocurrency firms promoting unregistered initial coin offerings (ICOs) to “show cause”, or prove they are promoting legitimate securities.

SEC’s “Howeycoins” fake ICO web page

Gerald Rome, Colorado’s state securities commissioner, signed orders on behalf of the Division of Securities, part of the Department of Regulatory Agencies as part of an “ICO Task Force”, against three companies.

Bionic Coin, Sybrelabs – also known as CryptoARB, and Global Pay Net – also known as GLPN Coin and GPN Token received the orders from Rome on Tuesday.

High returns promised

Bionic Coin‘s website included blogs, a whitepaper and information regarding the sale of its tokens, promising “Bionic will grow your money without any effort”. It now declares the “ICO is ended”.

Sybrelabs, allegedly located in Cambridgeshire, UK also offered significant returns for minimum participation of $25. The site has now been removed.

Global Pay Net, meanwhile, claimed investors receive 80% of the company’s profits and listed several crypto professionals being involved – two of whom have denied any association with the company. The site now says the ICO is over.

SEC warning

The Securities and Exchange Commission issued warnings over scam ICOs earlier this year, going as far as publishing a scam ICO page highlighting the dangers and what to look out for.

“High returns entail high risks, possibly including a total loss on the investments,” it said.

The warning continued: “Most fraudsters spend a lot of time trying to convince investors that extremely high returns are ‘guaranteed’ or ‘can’t miss’.”