The controversial coin exchange ‘BitConnect’ is still being hit with a multitude of cyber attacks despite closing down last Wednesday, with customers reporting difficulty in getting their money out.
Investors face losing thousands of pounds at present, with The Sun and the Daily Express reporting that not only are these attacks still ongoing but now criminals are impersonating BitConnect customer support staff to steal from cryptocurrency wallets held by investors.
The company was hit with Cease and Desist letters from both Texas and North Carolina state authorities over its unauthorised sale of securities and fears it was running a Ponzi scheme, as well as its vulnerability to attacks since it began operating as an exchange for BitConnect coins.
The exchange stopped accepting new investors from last Wednesday and ceased trading on Monday. BitConnect reassured customers that they would be able to access their wallets and withdraw their cryptocurrencies at a recent average market rate but Fortune reported last week that since the announcement BitConnect had been suffering even more DDoS attacks, better known as distributed denial of service. The tactic is a common one for cyber attacks, which seeks to overload a server with requests so it is too busy to function in hosting websites.
In a statement on the BitConnect website, the company cited the mix of Cease and Desist letters from US State Authorities, as well as bad press and the continued DDoS attacks as why the exchange had to close.
The statement went on to say: “Closing the lending and exchange platform doesn’t mean that we will stop supporting BitConnect coin. Closing the lending platform will allow Bitconnect to be listed on outside exchanges giving more options for trading.”
