This week, I was hurled into the ranks of the unfortunate people who have had their identities stolen by a dodgy crypto enterprise – and, as the above headline indicates, I’m pissed.
As I was informed by a well-wisher via an email this week, I am being advertised as an “advisor” to a supposed cryptocurrency project called “US Veteran Token” (USVT) that insinuates that it in some way supports the men and women that have admirably served their country in the military.
But it appears to all be a ruse. A big fat fake.
The sender of the email informed me that, not only had I been linked to the website, but members of his team had also had their bios stolen and posted on the site.
My own bio was lifted, along with an older image, verbatim, from the CoinDesk website. That is, apart from my cryptocurrency disclosure, which had been hiked significantly in value and altered to include USVT.
For the record, if it isn’t already clear, I do not own any USVT, and I do not have any association with the project. My emailer said that, in fact, the site was a rip-off of a genuine military-focused service he had been developing, but is currently on hold.
Still, I suppose I should take some small satisfaction in being in good company. Also included in “testimonials” is chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Jay Clayton.
When CoinDesk reached out to Clayton’s office, we got the reply from an SEC spokesperson:
“Neither the SEC nor the Chairman endorse or approve securities offerings, including initial coin offerings (ICOs) or cryptocurrency offerings. While SEC staff reviews filings for compliance with disclosure obligations, the SEC does not evaluate the merits of any offering nor does it determine if securities offered are good investments.”
Others who are listed as being connected with the site have also taken to social media to make it clear they have no involvement with the suspect project.
Sorry to interrupt all the fun Libra tweets, but I just want to say I am not affiliated with this project: https://t.co/EGFWLUB1E5 This must be a scam if it is listing people like me who have never even heard of it as part of the team. It seems some people have already lost money
— Laura Shin (@laurashin) July 17, 2019
At press time, the site is showing 404 status and most content is not showing. Whether someone has taken action or the project thought better of its actions, I’m not sure.
But with it showing many hallmarks of a scam, my opinion is crypto investors out there would do well to avoid US Veteran Token (usveterantoken[dot]net) and its touted “ICO,” if it should get back online
Images via USVT website