The Washington State Department of Financial Institutions (DFI) has issued a public alert regarding an alleged $310,000 crypto scam involving a trading platform named Ethfinance.

The DFI’s Securities Division received a complaint from an investor who was unable to withdraw $310,000 worth of cryptocurrency from Ethfinance. According to a June 13 press release, the investor was introduced to Ethfinance through a random friend request on LinkedIn.

“The investor transferred a total of approximately $310,000 using his decentralized finance (defi) wallet to Ethfinance, believing he would earn a large profit from cryptocurrency trading,” the DFI noted.

When the investor tried to withdraw some of his initial principal and purported profits, Ethfinance’s customer service, communicating via the Telegram messenger, instructed him to add more funds to complete a “smart contract” before withdrawing any money. The investor refused to send additional funds and has since been unable to access his account, which is now locked.

The regulator has not verified the allegations but warned that the case resembles an “Advance Fee Fraud,” where upfront payments are demanded for promised services or gains that never materialize.

According to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, such schemes often lure victims by promising high returns on investments and then require the payment of fees or taxes before any supposed earnings can be withdrawn.

In addition to Ethfinance, the DFI issued public alerts against other crypto trading platforms, including WTOCoin and Foundation-coin. These platforms appear to be enticing victims to deposit cryptocurrency and then denying them the ability to withdraw it.

The DFI urged consumers to exercise extreme caution before responding to any solicitation offering investment or financial services. Investment professionals must be licensed with the DFI to offer investments to Washington residents.

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