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As Dagens Nyheter previously revealed, the internet giant Google sells keywords and ads directly linked to the widespread bitcoin scams that fool small savers around the world.
It starts with Facebook ads with famous and successful people telling how they made big money on a new type of bitcoin investment.
But everything is a scam.
Read more: Here’s the company behind the fake celebrity ads
In fact, these are financial companies offering consumers risky currency speculation in bitcoin. It is not uncommon for blatant fraud to lurk behind, and the money invested is stolen from the start.
Another major part of the scam is the false reviews and ratings of the various services that build credibility for bitcoin sites and attract victims.
Swedish tech billionaire Henrik Persson Ekdahl runs Optimizer Invest, which in turn owns London-based Investoo.
Photo: Nadja Hallström / Harvest Agency
Dagens Nyheter Review shows that several sites that drive traffic to bitcoin sites are owned by the London-based Investoo Group, which is 60 percent owned by Swedish investors, including tech billionaire and entrepreneurial profile Henrik Persson Ekdahl through his company Optimizer Invest , based in Malta. Another large Swedish owner is AGOF Investments, which has a fund that has been invested in, among others, by Minecraft billionaires Jakob Porsér and Carl Manneh.
Investoo claims that the company is the largest in the world to generate traffic to finance companies.
For every customer who makes a deposit, the company receives a commission.
One of the bogus sites run by London-based company Investoo claims that investments make customers rich and that you can become the next millionaire.
Photo: screenshot
Investoo operates a large number of sites with information and news on investments, crypto and currency trading.
DN’s review shows that at least 11 of the 19 sites that Investoo reports on its own site advertise and link users to highly questioned bitcoin sites like Bitcoin Revolution, Bitcoin Code, and Bitcoin Billionaire.
These sites are said to have digital robots, “trading robots”, which with advanced algorithms are said to be able to automatically trade and sell cryptocurrencies and thus generate huge profits for users in no time.
The sites are promised the opportunity to earn tens of thousands of crowns per day; A recurring claim is that “most people make their first million in a hundred days.”
These robots are a key component in the growing industry of online investment scams that generate billions of dollars worldwide each year.
As previous DN reviews have shown, bitcoin sites trade with bogus ads designed like newspaper articles, featuring famous people said to have gotten rich.
Read more: Google sells celebrity names to the highest bidder
Several of the Investoo sites have reviews of Bitcoin Code, Bitcoin Revolution and similar sites, where they are said to be credible and receive 5 out of 5 possible stars.
At the same time, authorities in various countries have warned about these particular bitcoin sites.
When DN examines the sites more closely, it turns out that it is Investoo who has created their own versions of the otherwise infamous bitcoin sites.
When we signed up as a trial with Investoo versions, we ended up with finance companies in Cyprus that have a permit from the authorities for investment and currency trading activities.
Another bogus site promises a step-by-step guide on how to make money fast with bitcoin.
Photo: screenshot
Investoos vd David Merry tells Dagens Nyheter that there is a high demand among licensed companies to obtain some of the clients who have become interested in investments through the widespread bitcoin scams. Therefore, Investoo produces content for its sites that can capture that search traffic. But, David Merry emphasizes, unlike scammers, Investoo only sends clients to licensed companies.
– We actively work to ensure that all of our partners have the relevant licenses to ensure that consumers are protected. Additionally, as part of our control process for all brokers we want to work with, we register trial accounts to confirm and validate the information that brokers provide us about their methods. If during this process we notice that companies act against the interests of consumers, then we do not do business with them, writes David Merry in an email to DN.
After Dagens Nyheter sent a series of written questions to Investoo, many of the links disappeared and the pages changed. False claims about incredible earnings disappeared.
David Merry says this is old material that DN has brought to his attention and is now being removed.
– Some of our old content is being cleaned up now, he says.
Several of the scam sites look similar with attractive messages for smaller savers to invest in.
Photo: screenshot
Despite the fact that Investoo draws clients towards licensed financial companies, it is also extremely risky to invest money in these, they are often very questionable so-called CFD investments. With some exceptions, CFDs are prohibited from trading to individuals in Sweden, among other places. According to the companies’ own information, more than 80 percent of all individuals lose money when they trade with the company, a stark contrast to the simple profit promises on the pages that locked us there.
Per Nordkvist, Head of Department on performance monitoring at Finansinspektionen, he says extremely misleading marketing with false promises of millions of profits may be reasons to ditch the license.
He says companies are obliged to follow relevant laws and rules that affect company operations, for example in marketing.
– A distinction must be made between pure fraud and complicated investments. In the second case, when you enter a product that exists, and that is not a scam, then these regulations should be able to work.
– It can be a reason for us to initiate an investigation if a company under our supervision violates laws and regulations, for example, when it comes to marketing, of course you should not commit criminal activities in a company that requires a permit, he says. .
According to EU regulations, the authority in the company’s home country is responsible for supervision, in this case Cyprus.
Per Nordkvist says that Finansinspektionen has regular contact with its counterpart in Cyprus and shares relevant information about misbehaving companies.
– We have had continuous contact with Cyprus since these problems started, says Per Nordkvist.
Dagens Nyheter has requested Optimizer Invest and Henrik Persson Ekdahl to ask how they view what has come up in DN’s review and how they view Investoo’s business ethics.
Henrik Persson Ekdahl has not returned with an answer.
Optimizer Invest CEO Petter Moldenius has declined an interview, but writes in an email that they welcome the industry review and take the allegations very seriously.
“Investoo only works with licensed currency players who are audited by the authorities in each jurisdiction,” he writes.
After DN searched those involved, the names Optimizer Invest and Henrik Persson Ekdahl were removed from the Investoo site under the heading “about us.”
Minecraft billionaire Carl Manneh tells DN that he knows nothing about Investoo and its operations. Your investment is in the AGOF Investments fund and you do not have detailed knowledge of the companies in which you have invested since then.
