ITP Corporation’s Collapse
Towards the end of 2023, investors of the ITP Corp scam discovered that withdrawals from their accounts had been disabled with the outage attributed to a Thanksgiving Day rush in the US which overwhelmed their systems. Simultaneously, the company promoted a “Thanksgiving” bonus, offering a 100% match on all deposits, encouraging users to invest more to gain more.
Less than a week later, ITP Corp claimed that users needed to register and activate their accounts on a new system on account of the outage, requiring an additional payment of $30-100. This tactic is common in the final stages of a pyramid scheme when organisers are looking for a last-ditch cash grab before pulling out and shutting up shop.
The Washington State Department of Financial Institutions (DFI) warns:
“[The DFI] Securities Division has received multiple complaints regarding the entity ITP Corporation […] The complainants purchased cryptocurrency with the promise of being able to trade or sell that cryptocurrency with guaranteed profits. Investors were not able to withdraw their funds. Some investors were also asked to pay an additional $100 “ransom fee” to access their funds”.
Is ITP Corporation a Pyramid Scheme?
The behaviour of ITP Corp is a classic example of an illegal pyramid scheme.
Pyramid schemes rely on a steady supply of new investors to fund the payouts of the previous investors, with those at the top of the pyramid taking the money of those lower down. The scheme’s creator acquires a large sum of money from recruits, who in turn rely on additional investors. This cycle continues until the recruitment slows down, stops, or becomes too risky, and the creator attempts to disappear with the money.
Chloe Roche, Head of Fraud and an Associate Solicitor at CEL Solicitors offers advice to those who have lost money to illegal pyramid schemes like the ITP scam.
“When a pyramid scheme collapses – as they invariably do – the fallout is devastating. Investors are not only left to pick up the pieces after their money has been stolen but also reckon with the broken trust of colleagues, friends and family members. Sometimes, these relationships may never be the same again – even if the initial intentions were good.
“It’s important to understand that even if you believe your money is gone for good and that your bank has said they can’t or won’t help, you have options for recovering your money.”
