You know, I recently remembered the story of one of the biggest crypto scammers in history again. Ruja Ignatova is a Bulgarian-German criminal who created OneCoin and literally cheated investors out of billions. Just a wild story.

This woman was born in 1980 in Ruse, studied international law, allegedly worked at McKinsey, and then decided to create her own cryptocurrency. In 2014, she launched OneCoin, presenting it as a competitor to Bitcoin. She promised unimaginable profits and swore that everything was backed by blockchain—of course, that was a complete lie.

Victims from more than 100 countries lost about $4 billion, and some sources say losses could be as high as £12.9 billion. I remember her famous statement in 2016: in two years, nobody will be talking about Bitcoin. Well, as you know, she was wrong.

In October 2017, Ruja Ignatova simply disappeared. She flew from Sofia to Athens—and that was it. No one has seen her since. The FBI added her to its list of the 10 most wanted criminals in 2022, offering $5 million for information. Europol is looking for her too, although their reward of £4,100 looks downright pathetic compared to the American one.

It’s believed she uses fake passports, may have had plastic surgery, or was even killed by the Bulgarian mafia. There’s a theory that she’s hiding in Bulgaria or Greece, possibly under protection. Her last confirmed appearance was at Athens airport—nothing more.

The wildest part is that even after OneCoin was exposed, it continues to operate in some African and Latin American countries. People are still losing money. Ruja Ignatova’s story even inspired the BBC to make a podcast titled “The Missing Crypto Queen.”

This story is a great example of why you need to be more careful with investments in unknown projects. The cryptocurrency market attracts both legitimate projects and scammers. Always check whether there is real technology behind the project, who is behind it, and whether it promises the impossible.