Pincoin/iFan ICO Scam

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Pincoin

Pincoin was a coin based on sharing, and iFan was a social network supposedly used by multiple celebrities. Significant incentives were provided to encourage recruitment of new members before the company disappeared along with all funds.

This exchange or platform is based in Vietnam, or the incident targeted people primarily in Vietnam.

About Pincoin

"In its respective ICOs in Vietnam, Modern Tech has encouraged people to invest in two new cryptocurrencies, Ifan and Pincoin. Investors were told that the tokens they received would have their value skyrocket once they officially became crytocurrencies when the two projects were realized."

"Pincoin, or the Pincoin Community Project as they call themselves is basically a newly launched cryptocurrency that allegedly focuses on “sharing”. They claim they’ve launched to help people share assets, resources, time and skills more efficiently."

"The PIN Foundation is a non-profit group with the only mission to develop and promote blockchain technology and crypto currency in a rising global sharing economy to help people share assets, resources, time and skills more efficiently. By helping providers and consumers connect, we and the community together create value, streamline commerce, and make accessing markets easier."

"In its respective ICOs in Vietnam, Modern Tech has encouraged people to invest in two new cryptocurrencies, Ifan and Pincoin. Investors were told that the tokens they received would have their value skyrocket once they officially became crytocurrencies when the two projects were realized."

"Join us to discover opportunities to build your wealth in a new era of sharing economy 2.0 with Blockchain technology and Crypto Currencies." "The Pincoin roadmap promised eight blockchain-based products that were going to allow users to have a good return on their Pincoins. The website was very professional and the graphics used had great quality."

“The PIN Project is about building an online collaborative consumption platform for global community, base [sic] on principles of Sharing Economy, Blockchain Technology, and Crypto Currency,” the organization writes on its site. “Members of the PIN community can perform collaborative investment as well as collaborative consumption to get full benefits from sharing economy model.”

"Ifan is introduced as a means of payment between celebrities and their fans. The value of the cryptocurrency is said to rise “on a daily basis” as the company invites more Vietnamese singers to join the network."

"Back on January 12, the cryptocurrency called Pincoin (PIN) entered the market. And at that time, the project seemed legitimate. The project seemed legitimate since it had a professional white paper and good explanations about how users were going to be earning 48% per month." "However, after just taking a short look around their website, it’s very clear that the whole thing is geared towards a money-making opportunity, through which they promise returns of up to 40% per month."

"The organization had offered bonuses to users who brought others to the platform. While the company had paid those bonuses in cash, the company began paying the bonuses in iFan tokens starting in January." "Pincoin investors were offered an 8% bonus for bringing new people. Another trick was a promise of monthly 48% profit from the investment."

"Parallel to Pincoin ICO Modern Tech launched a social network for celebrities. The project was called iFan. After the launch of iFan Pincoin investors started to get rewards in iFan tokens."

"Pincoin was marketed as an advertising platform that utilized blockchain technology while iFan was supposed to be a similarly powered social media site. They were both uncovered as multi-level marketing schemes when Modern Tech refused to authorize cash withdrawals."

"Modern Tech has claimed that Ifan is created as per Singaporean laws, and Pincoin is a project initiated by people from Dubai." "There are some individuals that are believed to be the masterminds, including Luong Huynh Quoc Huy, Luu Trong Tuan, Nguyen Duc Trong, Nguyen Trung Hieu, and Vu Huu Loi."

"According to Viet Bao, a team consisting of Bui Thi My Ngoc, Ho Phu Ty, Ho Xuan Van, Luong Huynh Quoc Huy, Luu Trong Tuan, Nguyen Duc Trong, Nguyen Trung Hieu, and Vu Huu Loi led Pincoin and iFan from zero to multi-millions in a few months while claiming they were representing products from Singapore and India. “To formalize the mode of operation, ifan and Pincoin authorized their company as legal representative in Vietnam with tax code 0314707223. Modern Tech then held the event in Ho Chi Minh City Minh and Hanoi to raise capital from investors,” Viet Bao reporter."

"Ifan and Pincoin investors only began to sense that they were falling victim to a scam when the company stopped paying commissions in real money, but in “tokens.” Investors could see the value of their investment rise on a daily basis in the system, but would never be able to withdraw them in cash.

"But in late 2017, eyebrows began to rise when some of the celebrities featured in Modern Tech marketing materials – such as the chart-topping singers Lam Truong, Le Quyen, and Dam Vinh Hung – started to claim that they actually had nothing to do with iFan or Pincoin. The stars angrily stated that their images were being used without their consent."

"The victims said the company had conned them out of VND15 trillion (US$660.79 million)." "[T]hough these figures could not independently be verified as of press time. Yet the protest outside of Modern Tech's Ho Chi Minh City headquarters, as reported by Tuoi Tre News on Monday, is perhaps reflective of the severity of the situation, which has sparked an official investigation by Vietnamese authorities."

"Victims of the scam have lamented on social media and forums that they had lost a fortune investing in the scheme. Others were collecting signatures of victims to file an official complaint to ask for their money back."

"A group of victims flocked to the Modern Tech headquarters on Sunday, carrying signs denouncing its fraudulent activities, and asked to be refunded."

The police chief of Ho Chi Minh City separately told Reuters, "all cryptocurrencies and transactions in cryptocurrencies are illegal in Vietnam."

"The country's central bank had previously said last October that cryptocurrencies are not "lawful means of payment.""

This exchange or platform is based in Vietnam, or the incident targeted people primarily in Vietnam.

The background of the exchange platform, service, or individuals involved, as it would have been seen or understood at the time of the events.

Include:

• Known history of when and how the service was started.
• What problems does the company or service claim to solve?
• What marketing materials were used by the firm or business?
• Audits performed, and excerpts that may have been included.
• Business registration documents shown (fake or legitimate).
• How were people recruited to participate?
• Public warnings and announcements prior to the event.

Don't Include:

• Any wording which directly states or implies that the business is/was illegitimate, or that a vulnerability existed.
• Anything that wasn't reasonably knowable at the time of the event.

There could be more than one section here. If the same platform is involved with multiple incidents, then it can be linked to a main article page.

The Reality

This sections is included if a case involved deception or information that was unknown at the time. Examples include:

• When the service was actually started (if different than the "official story").
• Who actually ran a service and their own personal history.
• How the service was structured behind the scenes. (For example, there was no "trading bot".)
• Details of what audits reported and how vulnerabilities were missed during auditing.

What Happened

The specific events of the loss and how it came about. What actually happened to cause the loss and some of the events leading up to it.

Key Event Timeline - Pincoin/iFan ICO Scam

Date	Event	Description
April 9th, 2018	Main Event	Expand this into a brief description of what happened and the impact. If multiple lines are necessary, add them here.

Total Amount Lost

The total amount lost has been estimated at $660,790,000 USD.

How much was lost and how was it calculated? If there are conflicting reports, which are accurate and where does the discrepancy lie?

Immediate Reactions

How did the various parties involved (firm, platform, management, and/or affected individual(s)) deal with the events? Were services shut down? Were announcements made? Were groups formed?

Ultimate Outcome

What was the end result? Was any investigation done? Were any individuals prosecuted? Was there a lawsuit? Was any tracing done?

Total Amount Recovered

There do not appear to have been any funds recovered in this case.

What funds were recovered? What funds were reimbursed for those affected users?

Ongoing Developments

What parts of this case are still remaining to be concluded?

Individual Prevention Policies

No specific policies for individual prevention have yet been identified in this case.

For the full list of how to protect your funds as an individual, check our Prevention Policies for Individuals guide.

Platform Prevention Policies

Policies for platforms to take to prevent this situation have not yet been selected in this case.

For the full list of how to protect your funds as a financial service, check our Prevention Policies for Platforms guide.

Regulatory Prevention Policies

No specific regulatory policies have yet been identified in this case.

For the full list of regulatory policies that can prevent loss, check our Prevention Policies for Regulators guide.