Metaverse Foreign Exchange, or MTFE, a Dubai-based Ponzi scheme launched in 2022, has collapsed. Operators began rejecting investor withdrawals last week before vanishing entirely, leaving thousands of users unable to access their funds.
The scheme primarily operated through a mobile application, with a web presence that proved difficult for regulators to track. MTFE initially used the domain mtfe.ca. This site drew the attention of Ontario's securities regulator, which issued a fraud warning in early July. The operators responded by registering a new domain, mtfe.io, on July 25th and migrating their operations.
Withdrawal delays began plaguing investors last week. By yesterday, MTFE ceased all attempts to process redemptions, outright rejecting withdrawal requests. Since then, the company's administrators have gone silent, offering no explanation to the investors whose money they hold.
Bangladeshi national Masud Al Islam fronts the operation from Dubai. Evidence suggests he is working with Chinese scammers. Al Islam appeared to anticipate the scheme's end, abandoning his personal Facebook account on August 4th.
MTFE's reach was considerable. Before switching domains, the mtfe.ca site saw approximately 306,000 visits in July 2023. Bangladesh accounted for the largest portion of this traffic at 34%, followed by Sri Lanka at 19%, India at 8%, the United Arab Emirates at 6%, and Kenya at 4%. These figures indicate thousands of potential victims across multiple countries, though the precise number and total losses are still unknown.
Remarkably, the MTFE mobile app remains available for download on both the Apple App Store and Google Play. This is despite the Ontario securities warning and clear indicators of fraud, allowing new investors to potentially fall victim.
The UK's Financial Conduct Authority issued a securities fraud warning on June 11th, 2024, targeting a domain called mtfeglobal.com. This domain was privately registered on the same day the warning was issued and is now disabled. This demonstrates that MTFE's operators were already planning their next move even as their primary scheme was collapsing.
Investors seeking to report fraud or find recovery resources can contact their local financial regulatory authority. In the United States, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) handle such complaints.