Taiwan police bust a ring of criminals who allegedly lured over 100 investors into a crypto scam.

Taiwan police have arrested a ring of criminals who allegedly lured over 100 investors into their Ethereum investment scam. Authorities said the suspects relied on false information and photos of beautiful women on social media platforms and their websites to lure their victims, which were described as older males. The scammers are alleged to have made away with NT$150 million (US$5.41 million) from at least 100 investors, the Taipei Times reported.

Victims were lured by promises of making quick millions.

According to the paper, the one victim who lost the most money parted with NT$29 million ($1.05 million) over two months. Investigators said the man was lured by promises of making quick millions in the first month, prompting him to put in even more money in the scam. A man with the surname Chen was identified as the alleged leader of Azure Crypto Co., a company that offered crypto transactions. The lead investigator in the case, Kuo Yu-Chih, said Chen led the promotion and marketing of the scam, mostly relying on social media.

Chen allegedly presented himself as a financial advisor specializing in block reward mining.

Investigators said that Chen and his team of fraudsters focused their efforts on Ethereum, Tether, and the controversial TRON. He promised his investors sky-high returns and withheld substantial facts such as how he would make the profits or his qualifications as an asset manager (or lack thereof). Chen allegedly presented himself as a financial advisor specializing in block reward mining. The main target market for Chen’s scam was older males, according to the authorities. The 14 suspects face charges of money laundering, fraud, and breaching the Organized Crime Prevention Act, authorities said.