MILLIONS have been warned over a popular cryptocurrency investing app which has been unearthed as a scam.
People have lost thousands of hard-earned cash, in what experts suspect could be one of the biggest crypto app scams in history.
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The app, iEarn Bot, promotes itself as an artificially intelligent (AI) robot that helps customers get high returns on their crypto investments.
The app had been promoted by well-known IT leaders in countries such as Nigeria, Colombia and Romania, which previously gave it a halo of legitimacy.
But even these tech leaders were caught out.
“You could see in the app how many dollars the app was creating: there were graphics showing how the investment was progressing,” one victim from Romania, who had invested hundreds of euros inside the app, told the BBC.
“It looked quite professional until, at some point, they announced maintenance.”
This is when cash withdrawals from the app were frozen.
“Some people started to say ‘I cannot withdraw… what is happening’,” explained Roxana, whose name has been changed to conceal her identity.
“I made the request to withdraw and the money just disappeared. The portfolio became zero – but I was never credited on my wallet with any money.”
Top Romanian IT expert Gabriel Garais had sponsored the app.
He too was fooled into investing his own savings in the app and lost his money, the BBC reported.
Roxana has insisted she would never considered investing had Garais not promoted the app.
The credentials from “strategic partners” Qualcomm, Huawei and the Massachussetts Institute of Technology that iEarn Bot cites on its website also appear to be fake, according to the BBC.
Each organisation has said they had never heard of the firm.
The company’s Facebook page had also been used to advertise weight-loss products up until the end of 2021.
Amid the uproar, experts have likened the app to a ponzi scheme, a form of fraud which is based in the promise of ‘quick returns’.
Sister apps
An app under a similar name, iEARN BOT plus, is currently available on Google Play.
Meanwhile two other variations of the app, under the names Pro IEARN BOT and IEARN BOT – Ai tools, are also downloadable via Apple’s App Store.
The apps in the App Store are advertised as health and medication trackers, one of which doubles up as a “financial management” app.
It’s advised to not download these sister apps in Google Play or the App Store, as they may also put users at risk.
The Sun has contacted Google and Apple for comment.
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