US law enforcement seizes BG Wealth Sharing domain after suspected $150 million crypto Ponzi scheme rug pulls users

[nihalsari]

US law enforcement has seized the domain of BG Wealth Sharing, a suspected crypto Ponzi scheme that on-chain investigator ZachXBT estimates caused losses exceeding $150 million across thousands of victims. The BG Wealth Sharing website now displays a seizure notice from a joint operation between Operation Level Up and the Scam Center Strike Force. ZachXBT reported on Tuesday that illicit actors connected to the group attempted to launder more than $92 million in crypto between April 27 and Sunday before the scheme collapsed, and that he helped coordinate an initiative that froze more than $41 million in collaboration with Tether, Binance, OKX, and US law enforcement. The scheme had been operating since 2025, and multiple regulators including the UK Financial Conduct Authority and the Central Bank of Samoa had warned since that year that BG Wealth Sharing was an unlicensed entity operating an investment scam.The scheme operated through classic Ponzi mechanics: it claimed to provide crypto trading guidance, advertised heavily on social media, and offered daily yields of 1.3% to 2.6% alongside referral commissions and rank-based bonuses.

The final act before going offline followed a pattern that fraud researchers recognize as an advance fee scam. On Saturday, purported CEO Stephen Beard told users in a video that its DSJ Exchange was approaching an IPO and that a 12% tax on account balances was required as part of the regulatory process. By Sunday, users on social media had identified the move as a rug pull in progress. The Washington State Department of Financial Institutions issued a formal warning on Monday, stating that any company requiring investors to deposit additional funds in order to withdraw their investment is highly likely to be operating an advance fee scam.

[lingriiddd]

Fake IPO tax requirement as the exit mechanism is textbook advance fee fraud layered on top of Ponzi mechanics — two separate fraud categories deployed sequentially against the same victims.