- Hackers allegedly hacked AfriCrypt a South African crypto firm.
- The ‘hackers’ got away with 69,000 bitcoin worth $3.6 billion at the time.
- However, the platform operators also disappeared raising suspicions.
The operators of a South African crypto firm, AfriCrypt, have disappeared along with 69,000 bitcoin worth $3.6 billion. Facts are still unclear, but this could be the biggest crypto scam in history, according to Bloomberg.
The vanishing brothers, Ameer and Raees Cajee, founded AfriCrypt in 2019. Since then, the crypto firm accumulated about 54 billion rands or $3.6 billion in bitcoin. This is also the amount that went missing at the time the platform notified users it had been hacked.
The platform sent an official notice on April 13. The notice stated that the platform would cease operations to facilitate investigations and the recovery of the stolen assets. In addition, AfriCrypt requested users to refrain from contacting the authorities about the hacking as it would “delay the recovery process.”
Legal representation for the affected users, Hanekom Attorneys, called this a red flag. The lawyers noted, “we were immediately suspicious as the announcement implored investors not to take legal action.” The South African law firm also added, “Africrypt employees lost access to the back-end platforms seven days before the alleged hack.”
Users report that the investment platform was offering up to 10% daily returns, another red flag for discerning investors.
The lawyers also claim that evidence points to the brother transferring the missing crypto from the platform. Consequently, the hackers transferred the 69,000 BTC to various dark web tumblers and mixers, resulting in severe fragmentation. It seems the brothers used this method to render the crypto trail untraceable.
Currently, the brothers are unreachable with their mobile numbers going straight to voicemail. Also, the AfriCrypt platform is currently down. The South African High Court in Gauteng granted a provisional liquidation order against the brothers. The court gave the pair till July 19 to respond to the order.
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Source: https://coinquora.com/africrypts-3-6b-bitcoin-disappearance-hacking-or-scam/
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