An alleged scammer identified as “Turgut V” may have dealt a $119 million hit on 1,500 investors in Turkey. According to Turkish news channel NTV, his promise to victims was a 100% return on Dogecoin mining contributions.

Dogecoin mining coup causes $119 million loss to Turkish investors

Scams are far from uncommon in the world of cryptocurrencies, but they rarely involve “mining” the world’s most popular meme currency.

Dogecoin’s mining system works the same way as Bitcoin’s — through an energy-intensive process called Proof of Work (POW), in which high-powered computers work to solve complex math problems with the winner receiving a reward in the form of cryptocurrency.

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‘Turgut V’ tricked unsuspecting investors into buying Dogecoins and transferring them to him so he could invest in mining technology.

The alleged scammer and several others told investors in person at events held in posh venues and also via Zoom broadcast that they would have big returns, the publication says, according to a lawyer’s comments.

However, the deal was suddenly closed; Turgut V has disappeared, says the report. About 1,500 people fell in the alleged coup. One victim told NTV that “the system worked for four months” and that “everything was going well.”

As a result, a court has banned Turgut V and his team from leaving the country until the investigations are completed.