ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) – The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) wants to launch a nationwide crackdown on recall fraud as fake recall claims hurt honest consumers and businesses.
Recall fraud occurs when people file for recall refunds, repairs or replacements on products they never owned or never returned, according to the U.S. Food & Drug Administration.
The fraud drives up costs for companies and can make recalls less effective for consumers who need them.
CPSC says recall fraud is not a victimless offense because it undermines product safety, drains resources, and makes it harder to get dangerous products out of American homes.
What the commission is looking for
The commission is seeking public comment on what fraud looks like, how it has impacted consumers and businesses, and what can be done to stop it.
The agency said recall fraud may include submission of…
THE HASHFLARE “CLOUD MINING” PONZI SCHEME (GLOBAL/ESTONIA)
Date: February 13, 2025 (Guilty Pleas) Perpetrators: Sergei Potapenko and Ivan Turogin
Case Description: This $577 million cryptocurrency fraud remains one of the largest digital asset scams in history, with major legal developments concluding in 2025. Potapenko and Turogin operated “Hashflare,” which they marketed as a massive cryptocurrency mining operation. Hundreds of thousands of victims worldwide purchased “mining contracts,” believing they were renting hash power to mine Bitcoin. In reality, the duo was running a sophisticated Ponzi scheme.
They created fake customer dashboards that showed “real-time” mining profits, but the money being paid out was simply the capital of newer investors. They laundered the proceeds through shell companies to purchase luxury real estate and a fleet of high-end vehicles. After a massive international investigation involving the FBI and Estonian authorities, the pair agreed to forfeit over $400 million in assets. This case underscores the “Cyber-enabled Fraud” warning issued by the FATF in early 2026: as technology evolves, the scale of fraud moves from local millions to global billions in the blink of an eye.
Link to Original: ACFE – High Profile Fraud of 2025