You know, I recently revisited the story of Ruja Ignatova - and every time I’m amazed at how one woman managed to create one of the largest financial scams in the history of the crypto industry. The Bulgarian-German fraudster literally rewrote the rules of the game in the world of cryptocurrency schemes.

Ruja Ignatova was born in Ruse, Bulgaria, in 1980, but moved to Germany as a child. On paper, she appeared to be an exemplary career woman - holding a PhD in international law, working at McKinsey. Then, in 2014, she launched OneCoin, positioning it as the Bitcoin killer. And that’s when it all began.

She attracted investors from over a hundred countries, promising enormous returns. People were told it was a currency with a blockchain, but in reality, it was a classic Ponzi scheme. The scheme collected about $4 billion, although some sources report losses of up to £12.9 billion. In 2016, Ruja Ignatova publicly declared: “In two years, no one will be talking about Bitcoin” - such confidence, such audacity.

October 2017 - and she simply disappears. A flight from Sofia to Athens, and that’s it. Since then, the FBI has been searching for her among the top 10 most wanted criminals, offering $5 million for information. Europol is also involved, although their reward of £4,100 seems downright laughable compared to the scale of the scam.

The theory that she uses fake documents or may have altered her appearance sounds like a thriller plot. There are suspicions that influential people in Bulgaria helped her hide. She was last seen at Athens airport, and since then - nothing. It’s believed she might be hiding in Russia or Greece, possibly under protection.

The craziest part is that OneCoin is still promoted in some African and Latin American countries, continuing to find new victims. Ruja Ignatova’s story has already inspired numerous documentaries and podcasts, including the BBC’s “The Missing Crypto Queen.”

This story is a perfect example of why you need to be extremely cautious with unregistered projects and overly promising schemes. Financial crimes are evolving, becoming more sophisticated. It’s better to check once than to regret lost money later.