The California Department of Financial Protection & Innovation has created an online "Crypto Scam Tracker" that allows the public to by search company name, scam type, or keywords. Scams reported on the Tracker are based on consumer complaints to the department. However, the DFPI states that it has not verified the losses reported by complainants.

One alleged scam is described as follows:

A Californian reported a crypto trading site called Osain. After using the site www.osain2023.com for a while, the victim tried to make a withdraw from their account. But Osain customer service demanded a $4,700 handling fee first. The victim paid the handling fee, then was told they needed to pay an additional $1,300 transaction fee. The victim had to take out a loan to pay the fees. Eventually, the site’s “customer service” stopped responding. The victim has not been able to withdraw any money from the platform and the website is no longer operational.

The Tracker categorizes each scam (e.g., fraudulent trading platform, pig butchering scam, etc.) and provides a glossary of terms. 

While the Tracker may help some investors avoid being victimized, it is necessarily limited in scope and currency. Thus, an investor should not assume absence from the list means that a particular opportunity is not a scam.