Ellis Jones have successfully obtained a Freezing Injunction in respect of a client’s cryptocurrency following it being stolen in a sophisticated online scam.
Following reading an article which purported to be from a well-known and reputable news website, the client signed up for an investment service advertised in the article. The client was then put in contact with an individual claiming to be a cryptocurrency investor. Believing the individual to be acting in good faith, our client invested large sums of cryptocurrency over a short period of time. Seeing, on a fake online platform, that their profits appeared to have risen drastically in a short period, the client attempted to make a withdrawal.
The client was told they would need to make a further significant payment, in order to release the funds, which immediately raised alarm.
Upon realising it was a scam, Ellis Jones were instructed and acted quickly to obtain a tracing report from an expert, where it was possible to trace the cryptocurrency belonging to our client as having been transferred to two exchanges. Within just a few days, Ellis Jones issued a without notice Freezing Injunction in the High Court in an effort to stop any funds or cryptocurrency being transferred or withdrawn.
In doing so, we also sought orders compelling the exchanges to provide key information and ID linked to the accounts, to assist in identifying the fraudsters and most importantly, an order to ensure the cryptocurrency was immediately frozen.
The application for both orders was successful, with initial confirmation received shortly after the orders being granted that the identified accounts had been frozen.