0x16cDA3E7463B8F05f12Eed0ec617183D8B2F4293 scam

A fake crypto project scam involving cryptocurrency was reported on 9 September 2026. Fake UK-registered brokerage operating as "FlexFlume Ltd" (flexflumeltd.net) targeting an elderly victim in Croatia. Total loss approx. EUR 158,100 between July and August 2026. The victim registered through flexflumeltd.net believing it was a licensed UK broker. He was contacted daily by at least four different men speaking Serbian/Montenegrin, calling from a rotating block of Croatian mobile numbers (+385 97 683 XXXX) with the last four digits changed on each call to defeat blocking. He was shown a trading interface displaying fabricated gains and persuaded to invest EUR 100,000 of retirement savings into what were described as "investment funds". The platform eventually showed profits of approximately EUR 850,000, and he was sent a forged PDF purporting to document the transfer of those funds. The scheme was exposed at the advance-fee stage: the callers demanded a further EUR 50,000 for a "cryptocurrency trading licence" before any withdrawal could be released. The victim became suspicious, disclosed the situation to a family member who had no knowledge of the investments, and the fraud was identified. No further payments were made. Note: a related domain flexflume.com has promotional "review" articles placed on low-quality news sites, apparently to suppress warnings in search results. Funds were paid in cash at Croatian crypto ATMs and exchange counters, converted to BTC and ETH, and sent to addresses supplied by the callers. BTC: each payment went to a single-use address, then through one or two intermediate hops before deposit to KuCoin (internal wallet 3EUDMLc5sHNSYBoc1nG2CA2it6w6d2iQEu). Two separate payments (EUR 9,500 and EUR 41,000) went to the same address bc1qg2n9h42jrpggmfzel3feeahjcwkkctx0lmfu2t, confirming common control. ETH: 22.406 ETH (EUR 50,000) sent 25–26 Aug 2026 to 0x16cDA3E7463B8F05f12Eed0ec617183D8B2F4293, forwarded to 0x4713C5a2D5Bb60bB7E1D9B9cA5535cbf161D910E, held untouched for two weeks, then moved in September 2026 to 0x9A644fb6F01A43db3496bBbce0505F2F7874e4f4. That address held a near-zero balance for nine months, then spiked to 155.76 ETH (approx. USD 388,000) — active consolidation from multiple sources. Victim funds are a minority of the balance; other victims are likely involved. Exchanges: funds from this cluster may arrive for deposit — flag and preserve account records. Wallet addresses linked to this report: ethereum: 0x16cDA3E7463B8F05f12Eed0ec617183D8B2F4293, 0x4713C5a2D5Bb60bB7E1D9B9cA5535cbf161D910E, 0x9A644fb6F01A43db3496bBbce0505F2F7874e4f4 bitcoin: bc1qg2n9h42jrpggmfzel3feeahjcwkkctx0lmfu2t, 1BWhzmLjoZBmoWE2gRcGdzqk1uLz2MGNZG, 1Q1F539GNBbqHXg6mrCGj3kUVT2wEBixLa, 16jQKiuh269hR8q8PzD9jnaqLZs4HwTcY4, 3PbNVZDyShwLaB8CK1YjDqP9CyXpM3L9R3, 1HPR4mGZqx49rV4aoSyhfJc97D1AeCypmD, 39CrhjoesHm4NchRUmatwVzdrkQYTukdtw, 1K4WE7Tw9TjUiQj6VMR64ttF8CUKi55B1r, 3ABzBBUQu5HGiVbGs4E31ZmrLNezw778tE, 1Kmjt7CtRuCHw9CeXUGT5neGFqRXetLCmn, 3Jpnh5M6Rxpw7VJ2rz1Ri66ntnPZnaCbgM, 1JJ3Pv5obCq8dNc6thwCHnowpcspQ5C9No, 1Ag5MBGFWfCTdQUzjHrhdEAjVnE9KPi1Nq, 1LVGhSeTgFYVjC5oYjiCmFoAMhFj1vc4ho, 3HqvEekM7qpLtGKJCyAL8MCQ8yJSCAdRtL, 3HaEW5x618xDR1n2jN9J77w7wtRNNbvp9r, 38tkj6WXRpn5ZzWejLhJ2Z9AL3sKbNY85v Do not send money or cryptocurrency to anyone connected to this report. If you have already paid, contact your bank or exchange and report the incident to your national fraud authority.