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In this article we’re going to cover the recent exit scam of the Canadian cryptocurrency exchange MapleChange (https://maplechange.com/). We’re going to follow the leads left by management, and see where it gets us. They pulled an exit scam of more than 913 BTC (worth more than $6,000,000 at current exchange rates), and that’s the reason why we decided to cover this issue.
Who is Behind MapleChange Management?
After users claimed they couldn’t withdraw their funds, and an apparent disappearance of the MapleChange management, the crypto-community started to wonder what could potentially be wrong with the exchange.
source:
https://twitter.com/MapleChangeEx/status/1056585331493896192
- MapleChangeEx
The management team claimed that there was a problem with the exchange due to a “bug”, and vanished entirely from any social media, with the exception of twitter. With users concerning that it was an exit scam, we took it upon ourselves to investigate. So lets go back to its roots.
source: http://archive.fo/zKxdC
The MapleChange website (maplechange.com) was first advertised on bitcointalk.org by a user named “ItsFlavy”. We decided to dig deeper to try and find more information.
source: http://archive.fo/zKxdC
It seems like “ItsFlavy” stands for “Flavius”, the author’s name. And it appears that Flavius is based in Edmonton, Alberta (Canada). Which would make sense, since the exchange is Canadian. So, we tapped some keywords in google (“Flavius” “MapleChance”) and found some deleted social media profiles (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn & GitHub). Yet, we found some cache versions of Flavius social media profiles.
source: https://github.com/Tach-Yon
source: http://archive.fo/w1ZAq
source: https://ca.linkedin.com/in/flavius-poenaru-2693a116b
Flavius Poenaru is a developer from Edmonton, Alberta (CA) that is behind the WeyCoin (weycoin.org) cryptocurrency and TapTap Adventure (taptapadventure.com), an android game.
Upon googling his full name (“Flavius Poenaru”), we get another interesting result.
It seems like Flavius Poenaru is an undergrad researcher under the University of Alberta.
We also decided to google “MapleChange Inc” to see what results we get. And we got another name, another supposedly “CEO” of “MapleChange Inc”.
source: https://ca.linkedin.com/in/glad-poenaru-ba380385
It seems like there’s another name, “Glad Poenaru”. So, we decided to investigate that name, and oddly enough, Glad Poenaru deleted most of his social media. Gladly, there’s cache version(s) of it.
source: https://www.facebook.com/glad.poenaru
source: https://twitter.com/imglad91
source: web.skype.com
From searching Glad Poenaru on both Twitter, Facebook and Skype (resolver) we get some interesting information. He worked in the yatch industy, and we got the email address(s) (glad_twister2000@yahoo.com , glad.poenaru@outlook.com) and also a location (Constanta, Romania). So we dicided to look for “Glad” AND “Poenaru” AND “Constanta” on google, and we found this.
source: http://www.best-maritime-mail.info/pvc/index.php/l/en/mod/charge/persone_id/7860
It seems like we got a new name, “Poenaru Petru-Didel” from the same location as “Glad Poenaru”, Constanta, Romania, who also works in the yatchts industry. So we decided to google “Poenaru” AND “Petru” AND “Didel” AND “crewing”, and we got this.
source: https://www.linkedin.com/in/poenaru-didel-19230270
source: https://www.facebook.com/didel.poenaru
We find a “Didel Poenaru” from Edmonton, Alberta (formerly Constanta, Romania) who works in the yachting industry. But he’s not “Flavius Poenaru” nor “Glad Poenaru”. So what’s the connection?
Poenaru Didel (Didel Poenaru) is the father of Flavius Poenaru and Glad Poenaru. So lets check on his residence.
source: https://www.locatefamily.com/P/POE/POENARU-3.html
source: https://www.google.com/maps
The Didel family lives in 12727-123 Street NW, Edmonton Canada T5L0J2.
If you’re a victim of their scam, please use this information and report it to the Canadian authorities.
Happy hunting.
You should always investigate your sources thoughtfully, and take your conclusions from your own investigations.
Think!