The Zondacrypto scandal moves to Estonia. Former members of the Supervisory Board notified the prosecutor's office

The Central Bureau for Combating Cybercrime appealed on Thursday to caution those injured by the activities of the ZondaCrypto platform. It's about the so-called secondary frauds in which criminals impersonate, among others, under financial experts offering help in repaying the money.

The Regional Prosecutor's Office in Katowice initiated an investigation into the ZondaCrypto platform on April 17. It is being investigated for fraud of significant value and money laundering. On the day the proceedings were initiated, the amount of damage was estimated at at least PLN 350 million, but – as investigators point out – it increases with each passing day, just like the number of victims.

In connection with the ongoing investigation, the Central Bureau for Combating Cybercrime appealed to people who suffered as a result of the activities of the ZondaCrypto platform to be careful with videos published on social media offering assistance in returning blocked funds. As CBZC emphasizes, these are attempts at secondary fraud.

“We are observing a massive disinformation campaign aimed at re-robbing people who have already been injured. Criminals are taking advantage of the difficult financial and emotional situation of those injured as a result of the activities of the ZondaCrypto platform, publishing false messages on social media, video websites and on prepared news portals about the alleged possibility of 'immediate recovery of lost funds',” CBZC reported.

The office added that fraudsters mass-produce deepfake videos in which generated images of people, financial experts, are used to make the lie credible. According to the police, the digitally generated voice and image prove that there is a way to recover cryptocurrencies from blocked wallets. The only goal of fraudsters – warns the police – is to extort more money.

“Perpetrators can impersonate official state institutions by sending e-mails and via instant messengers. They often use professional legal and technical terminology to inspire trust and create the illusion of professionalism. In fact, no prosecutor's office or police unit contacts citizens to make payments towards the recovery of stolen funds,” CBZC emphasized.

The office appealed to people injured in the ZondaCrypto case to contact the nearest Police or Prosecutor's Office unit. The police advise that, before reporting a suspected crime, the victims should take screenshots of the images visible after logging in to their ZondaCrypto account, including screenshots indicating the contents of the wallet – cryptocurrency funds, FIAT funds – and account data: login, associated e-mail address, and also secure e-mail correspondence with ZondaCrypto for the longest possible period, in particular, do not delete it from the mailbox postal.

CBZC also advises victims to obtain the entire history of transactions conducted at ZondaCrypto. “Generating the appropriate file is possible as part of the functionality of the ZondaCrypto website,” writes CBZC.

Victims should also prepare printouts of transfers made to ZondaCrypto accounts, so that the number of the account from which the transfer was made and the number of the account to which the transfer was made remain visible, indicate when and in what amount withdrawals were ordered from ZondaCrypto, including withdrawals that were not fully or partially realized.

The media wrote at the beginning of April that the largest Polish cryptocurrency exchange may have serious liquidity problems. The analysis, obtained by money.pl and Wirtualna Polska, revealed a decline in bitcoin reserves of the Zondacrypto exchange by 99%. Users report problems with withdrawing funds, journalists reported.

The Zondacrypto exchange has a portfolio of 4.5 thousand. bitcoins worth over USD 300 million, but – as Kral reported on Thursday – the keys to them are held by the missing Sylwester Suszek, founder of the BitBay exchange, the predecessor of Zondacrypto. Suszek, referred to as the “king of cryptocurrencies”, went missing in March 2022.