About the Fraudsters OPTMINERS
September, 2021 Update
*** UPDATE – September, 2021 ***
The website OPTMINERS.COM has been taken down and no longer appears in Google search results. (Although fair warning, these scammers have multiple websites with the same colour scheme, content, and even the same fake pictures of their “staff”.)
YouTube has stopped serving up their videos in selected markets where defamation laws prevail. Since their videos point to a site that no longer exists then it’s not a very big worry!
So, while our company apparently is no longer subject to the false claims, it’s all but certain that the fraudsters behind OPTMINERS.COM have simply moved on to another set of fake credentials and a new round of victims. The moral of the story; don’t “invest” in cryptocurrency with random scammers on the internet!
August, 2021 Update
*** UPDATE – August, 2021 ***
YouTube continues to show videos that include the illegal use of our registered company name and claims “we’re unable to determine the merits of your defamation claim”.
We’ve tried to explain things to them using short words that even a lawyer should be able to understand:
TO: YouTube Legal Support Team
You say “we’re unable to determine the merits of your defamation claim”; this isn’t rocket science! At the time stamp provided the video narrator says “Optminers.com is a subsidiary of OPT Holdings Ltd., a registered mining company based in Canada…”. The same statement appears in the subtitles; see attached screenshot.
This statement is a bold-faced lie. As a result of this statement (in the YouTube videos and on their website) we were defamed. Our reputation was damaged and we were required to defend ourselves in a BC Securities Commission investigation and field calls from investors around the world who were scammed.
Fortunately, we were cleared relatively quickly by the BC Securities Commission, and as their warning post (https://www.bcsc.bc.ca/enforcement/early-intervention/investment-caution-list/2020/optminerscom) says “OPTMiners.com falsely claims to be a subsidiary of a British Columbia (BC) company, and claims to offer investment opportunities that promise immediate and high returns that are derived from Bitcoin mining.”
Your parent company, Google, has already conceded that serving up search results to this scam operation is a bad idea and have confirmed that OPTMINERS.COM will no longer appear in their searches. (Incidentally, I have no idea why we need to go through this entire process of getting illegal content taken down twice, with two divisions of the same company!)
Please take down the three defamatory YouTube videos with the illegal and unauthorized use of our company name immediately. Once taken down, please confirm with us so that we can update our warning page at https://oceanpacifictrading.com/about-optminers-com/
Should you still be unclear about this extremely straightforward takedown request and insist on continuing to show videos from these scam artists who are illegally using our company name, then we’ll proceed to the next stage. Would you please confirm the YouTube service address for court documents is:
Legal Support
YouTube (Google LLC)
901 Cherry Ave.
San Bruno, CA 94066
USA
Thank you.
—
Ocean Pacific Trading (div. of OPT Holdings Ltd.)
Until YouTube removes those videos, please remember that OPTMINERS IS A SCAM and is in no way associated with our registered company name, OPT Holdings Ltd.
July, 2021 Update
*** UPDATE – July, 2021 ***
The site OPTMINERS.COM has been taken down and no longer appears in Google search results. However, Google’s subsidiary, YouTube, continues to show videos that include the illegal use of our registered company name and Google continues to show search results for that content! We are still leaning on YouTube to get those videos removed, but in the meantime please remember that OPTMINERS IS A SCAM and is in no way associated with our registered company name, OPT Holdings Ltd.
May, 2021 Post
In 2020 the BC Securities Commission made us aware that OPTMINERS.COM was illegally using our registered company name to lend an aura of authenticity to their operation. They are in no way associated with OPT Holdings Ltd. and are using our name without permission. Their entire operation is set up to defraud crypto currency investors. All the pictures of people on their website are fake, nothing but stock or stolen images.
The BC Securities Commission has issued to following warning: https://www.bcsc.bc.ca/enforcement/early-intervention/investment-caution-list/2020/optminerscom
We understand that they are also under investigation in Spain, and we have had calls from defrauded investors in other countries, including Colombia and Dominican Republic.
Despite takedown notices to Google and complaints to their “customer service” email, registrar, and hosting service, their website continues to be up. We recently found out that they also have a YouTube video that makes the same fraudulent claim about being a subsidiary of our company. Here is an extract from our takedown complaint to YouTube:
Date: May 14, 2021 1:46 PM
To: copyright@youtube.com
Subject: Takedown Notice – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PjnRlg0tnu8
Our company, OPT Holdings Ltd., requires YouTube to take down video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PjnRlg0tnu8 or https://youtu.be/PjnRlg0tnu8 In this video (and on their website OPTMINERS.COM), fraudsters OPTMINERS.COM claim to be a subsidiary of our company and are using our registered name and BC incorporation number without permission and illegally.
They are the subject of a fraud warning in our jurisdiction of incorporation; https://www.bcsc.bc.ca/enforcement/early-intervention/investment-caution-list/2020/optminerscom They are also under investigation in at least one other country.
I have a good faith belief that the use of the material in the manner complained of is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law.
The information in this notification is accurate, and under penalty of perjury, I am the owner, or an agent authorized to act on behalf of the owner, of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed.