兩名加州男子被指控針對加密貨幣投資者進行價值 2,200 萬美元的 NFT「Rug Pull」欺詐

這將是迄今為止被起訴的最大的 NFT 騙局。

Two California men have each been charged by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) with defrauding investors out of more than $22 million in cryptocurrency through a series of NFT “rug pulls,” in what will be the largest NFT scam ever prosecuted.

美國司法部 (DOJ) 指控兩名加州男子通過一系列 NFT“拉扯”，詐騙投資者超過 2200 萬美元的加密貨幣，這將是有史以來起訴的最大的 NFT 騙局。

A “rug pull” is often conducted by the creators of NFTs and memecoins. It is, as the DOJ explains, when a “creator of a nonfungible token (NFT) or other digital asset project solicits funds from investors for the project and then abruptly abandons the project and fraudulently retains investors’ funds.”

「拉地毯」通常是由 NFT 和 memecoin 的創建者進行的。正如司法部所解釋的那樣，這是指「不可替代代幣（NFT）或其他數位資產項目的創建者向投資者募集資金用於該項目，然後突然放棄該項目並以欺詐手段保留投資者的資金。

Last week, two California men were named as part of a six-count indictment that was unsealed in Los Angeles. Both men, Gabriel Hay, 23, of Beverly Hills, and Gavin Mayo, 23, of Thousand Oaks, were also arrested by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in Los Angeles.

上週，兩名加州男子被列為在洛杉磯公佈的六項起訴書的一部分。這兩名男子分別是來自比佛利山莊的23 歲的加布里埃爾·海伊(Gabriel Hay) 和來自千橡市的23 歲的加文·梅奧(Gavin Mayo)，他們也在洛杉磯被國土安全調查局(HSI) 逮捕。

According to a DOJ press release, from May 2021 to May 2024, Hay and Mayo “sponsored several NFT and other digital asset projects and undertook promotional activities in support of those projects. Hay and Mayo allegedly made or caused others to make materially false and misleading statements regarding the digital asset projects being launched and provided false and misleading project ‘roadmaps’ detailing plans for the NFTs or other digital asset projects after their launch that the sponsors never intended to fulfill.

根據 DOJ 的新聞稿，從 2021 年 5 月到 2024 年 5 月，Hay 和 Mayo「贊助了多個 NFT 和其他數位資產項目，並開展了支持這些項目的推廣活動。 Hay 和Mayo 涉嫌製作或導致他人就正在啟動的數位資產項目做出重大虛假和誤導性陳述，並提供虛假和誤導性的項目“路線圖”，詳細說明NFT 或其他數位資產項目啟動後的計劃，而發起人從未打算這樣做實現。

“For example, the indictment alleges that in promoting the Vault of Gems NFT project, Hay and Mayo falsely claimed that the project would be the ‘first NFT project to be pegged to a hard asset.’ However, instead of pursuing the Vault of Gems project or others as they had represented they would, Hay and Mayo allegedly abandoned the projects after collecting millions in funds from investors.”

例如，起訴書稱，在推廣 Vault of Gems NFT 計畫時，Hay 和 Mayo 錯誤地聲稱該計畫將是「第一個與硬資產掛鉤的 NFT 計畫」。然而，海伊和梅奧據稱在從投資者那裡籌集了數百萬美元的資金後放棄了這些項目，而不是像他們所聲稱的那樣追求寶石庫項目或其他項目。

Some of the other NFT scams they allegedly spearheaded include digital asset projects Faceless, Sinful Souls, Clout Coin, Dirty Dogs, Uncovered, MoonPortal, Squiggles, and Roost Coin.

據稱他們領導的其他一些 NFT 騙局包括數位資產項目 Faceless、Sinful Souls、Clout Coin、Dirty Dogs、Uncovered、MoonPortal、Squiggles 和 Roost Coin。

A report published in late 2023 stated that over 23 million people own a NFT investment that is now completely worthless.

2023 年底發布的一份報告指出，超過 2,300 萬人擁有的 NFT 投資現在完全一文不值。

“For three years, Hay and Mayo apparently lied to their investors in order to defraud them out of millions of dollars,” said HSI Executive Associate Director Katrina W. Berger. “Such technological fraud schemes cost investors millions of dollars every year. Just because such crimes aren’t violent doesn’t mean they are victimless. HSI will continue to investigate, disrupt, and dismantle such cryptocurrency fraud networks.”

「三年來，Hay 和 Mayo 顯然對投資者撒了謊，目的是騙取他們數百萬美元，」HSI 執行副董事 Katrina W. Berger 表示。 「此類技術詐欺計畫每年使投資者損失數百萬美元。僅僅因為此類犯罪不是暴力行為，並不意味著它們沒有受害者。 HSI 將繼續調查、擾亂和拆除此類加密貨幣詐欺網路。

Hay and Mayo are each charged with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, two counts of wire fraud, and one count of stalking. The stalking charge stems from them allegedly embarking on a harassment campaign against a Faceless NFT project manager blowing the whistle on them. They now each face a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison on each of the conspiracy and wire fraud counts and a maximum penalty of five years on the stalking count.

海伊和梅奧分別被指控一項共謀實施電信詐欺罪、兩項電信詐欺罪和一項追蹤詐欺罪。跟蹤指控源自於他們涉嫌對舉報他們的 Faceless NFT 專案經理發起騷擾活動。現在，他們每人因共謀和電信詐欺罪名面臨最高 20 年監禁，因跟蹤罪名面臨最高 5 年監禁。