Last week, the California Department of Financial Protection & Innovation issued a warning about yet another fraudster's attempt to separate investors from their money:

The California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI) has received information that an entity “BitsCyber”, possibly claiming to operate out of California, is offering the service of retrieving lost Cryptocurrency funds, claiming that it is the DFPI.  BitsCyber has sent a fraudulent document entitled “Ownership Certificate Of Funds” to victims, claiming it is from the DFPI.  BitsCyber claims the document is needed for the retrieved funds to be wired to the client/victim.  The document contains DFPI’s Iconography and address, but seems to be edited heavily to reflect the scam’s language.

As discussed in this post from October 2023, this is not the first time, thieves have stolen the DFPI's identity.  When I served as Commissioner in the early days of the Internet, one ponzi scheme promoter forged the Department's business card and letterhead and conducted a faux examination.