The xrpeople.club website accumulates hundreds of complaints from users from different parts of the world who declare themselves victims of scams. José López Macías explained to CriptoNoticias that today there are many victims who believed in the promise of an annual interest rate of 66% for staking XRP (Ripple), something they never fulfilled.
After capturing the attention of a good number of people, the siteo xrpeople.net disappeared last March 13 with funds deposited by usersLopez Macias said. By then it had become clear to many that it was a fraud, but even so, things got complicated later.
Several days later the website reappeared under the name xrpeople.club, but instead of explaining its sudden absence, now users are asked to deposit a similar or higher amount of XRP. This with the promise that the interest rate will double for the benefit of the community.
All your funds have been transferred to the 414 pool. Our community is growing and reaching a new level. On March 13, 2002, the largest cryptocurrency exchange will join our community, which made it possible to increase the liquidity pool of the xrpeople community to 1200000000 xrp and the number of users to 1000000. The total interest rate on the participation has doubled.
Notice by xrpeople sent to the user’s mail.
Regarding this announcement, López Macias commented that, although it is true that users can access the platform and request the withdrawal of their funds, the reality is that they ask in exchange for an amount similar to that already invested initially.
“They request more money without giving any guarantee that everything invested can be withdrawn later, and in addition to this they set a deadline to enter the new amounts in XRP and if they do not comply they threaten to distribute them among the community,” he added.
Complaints for lost XRP increase
Meanwhile, complaints are increasing on Twitter. “Xrpeople confiscated our XRP. Now many people are victims, please help, “wrote user @erdal3812 who added a capture from a conversation with a supposed xrpeople.club supporter. In her, you are promised that after making a new investment you will be able to withdraw your XRP.
Some Twitter users they ask victims to go to the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) site to file an official complaint. However, It is said that that the company is registered in Belize, a country located on the Caribbean coast of Central America.
In any case, the website does not reveal its contact information, nor does it provide data on its representatives, although points out that it is a team of developers who have been linked to Ripple since its inception.
In its terms and conditions section, the platform clarifies that its program is “exempt from the United States Securities Act of 1933, the Stock Exchange Act of 1934, and the Investment Company Act of 1940, as well as all other rules, regulations, and amendments thereto.”
He adds that the site is for the exclusive use of the community that revolves around his alleged project. “Use of this site is limited to our members and those personally invited by them. Each deposit is considered a private transaction between xrpeople.net and its members,” she notes.
It also clarifies that each user invests at their own risk “and agree that past performance is not an explicit guarantee of the same performance in the future.” It also reserves the right to change the rules, rates and fees of the program at any time and at our sole discretion without prior notice.
“If your actions damage the reputation of xrpeople, you can be fined up to €50,000 ($55,000),” their terms and conditions read.
As more scams appear in the cryptocurrency ecosystem, a new report invites anyone interested in cryptocurrencies to distinguish between legitimate projects and potentially fraudulent schemes.
In that sense, Wax Dynasty says that people should do their research before investing, even if the project comes from a reliable source. A good rule of thumb is to always discern if something sounds too good to be true. The report’s authors note that if something seems too unrealistic, it probably is.
To provide more details on how to identify cryptocurrency scams, CriptoNoticias prepared this guide so that users stay alert and do not fall by surprise.