The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is sending PayPal payments of over $470,000 to consumers who lost money to “deceptive chain referral schemes involving cryptocurrencies” according to a release.
The FTC states that the defendants promoted Bitcoin Funding Team and My7Network falsely promised that participants could earn large amounts of money by paying cryptocurrency such as Bitcoin or Litecoin to enroll in the schemes. The FTC said previously that the defendants claimed that Bitcoin Funding Team could turn a payment of the equivalent of just over $100 into $80,000 in monthly income.
The FTC explains that both Bitcoin Funding Team and My7Network were chain referral traps that depended on the recruitment of new people to make money. In reality, most participants failed to recoup their initial investments.
As part of the settlement, the FTC will send 7,964 refunds through PayPal beginning on November 5, 2020. The average refund is said to be approximately $59. Recipients who receive a refund via PayPal will have 30 days to accept the payment.
Information regarding the case is available here: Federal Trade Commission v. Thomas Dluca, individually and also doing business as Bitcoin Funding Team and My7Network; Louis Gatto, individually and also doing business as Bitcoin Funding Team and My7Network; Eric Pinkston, individually and also doing business as Bitcoin Funding Team and My7Network; and Scott Chandler, individually and also doing business as Bitcoin Funding Team and JetCoin, Defendants.