Cape Town Cracks Down on Crypto Fraud, Police Seize Luxury Cars with Fake Plates

Odaily Planet Daily News: Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis recently participated in a nighttime special operation conducted by city police, targeting individuals claiming to be cryptocurrency and forex traders who drive luxury cars with fake or no license plates. During the operation, police seized a silver Mercedes-AMG GLE valued at over $153,000, which had been falsely registered as a white BMW, and arrested a driver operating an unregistered BMW 3-Series. Local officials stated that fraudulent crypto groups use TikTok to showcase assets and leverage luxury cars as status symbols to lure victims into fake investments. A report released in March revealed that corporatized scam centers operated by international crime syndicates have formed clusters in Cape Town and Johannesburg, employing deepfakes, cloned apps, and fake investment platforms to carry out fraud. Related illicit funds are often laundered through cryptocurrency wallets, money mules, and physical assets such as unregistered high-end cars. (Bitcoin.com News).