It seems as if using the Internet has become as dangerous as walking alone down a dark alley in a crime infested area of the city.  Today, the California Department of Financial Protection & Innovation issued the following warning about yet another scheme to separate people from their money:

The California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI) has been notified that an entity claiming that it is associated with the DFPI as well as the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA), is contacting members of the public as part of a scam whereby the scammers claim the DFPI and CSA have control of the victim’s crypto asset “cold wallet,” and demanding upfront fees in order to release the funds.

The scammers have provided victims a form with the DFPI’s logo and office address.  The scammers have used the names “Felix Frost”, “Benjamin Arnold Maguire”, and the email address transaction.support.rmca@proton.me.

The DFPI is warning the public that it does not conduct this type of activity nor does it keep “cold wallets” related to crypto assets.

The DFPI urges consumers and businesses to exercise extreme caution before responding to any solicitation that askes for personal information or payment. To check whether a form you receive is a legitimate DFPI form, users may contact the Consumer Services Office at ask.dfpi@dfpi.ca.gov or call toll-free at (866) 275-2677.

Happy Fourth of July Weekend! 

As Thomas Wolfe wrote in Of Time and the River: A Legend of Man's Hunger in His Youth:  "America - it is a fabulous country, the only fabulous country; it is the only place where miracles not only happen, but where they happen all the time."