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Fake ‘professors’ use phoney loans to trick victims in latest crypto scam

The scam often starts on a Facebook ad where those interested click the link and are met with a “Letter from the Professor” or “Letter from the Dean” on the company website.

Washington’s financial regulator has warned the public of an emerging crypto scam — where fraudsters pose as business “professors” to trick victims into depositing their hard-earned funds into a crypto scam or face “legal action.”

The “self-proclaimed professors” claim to be part of an “Academy,” “Business School,” or “Wealth Institute,” enticing victims with courses that can result in “exorbitant rates of return,” according to a July 16 statement by the Washington State Department of Financial Institutions (DFI). 

Victims typically come across the investment opportunity on a Facebook ad where they click the link and are met with a “Letter from the Professor” or “Letter from the Dean” on the company website.

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Traders eye $71.5K Bitcoin price as open interest jumps 13%

One of the largest US colleges has begun teaching students about Bitcoin

The professor said a “Programming Bitcoin” course will follow the first Bitcoin course, where students will learn how to “build a Bitcoin library from scratch.”

Classroom adoption of Bitcoin and cryptocurrency courses continue to skyrocket, with Texas A&M now being the latest U.S. College to offer a Bitcoin course to some of its 74,000+ students.

The news was announced on Jan. 13 by Associate Professor Korok Ray of Mays Business School at Texas A&M, who will be teaching the “Bitcoin Protocol” course to students in the College of Engineering and Mays Business School when the Spring Semester starts on Jan. 17.

Ray stated in the 4-part Twitter thread that “Programming Bitcoin” will follow Bitcoin Protocol, where students will learn to “build a Bitcoin library from scratch.”

The professor added that it was no easy feat to receive approval from the school’s relevant curriculum committee body, which came on the back of “months” of hard work.

A lack of high-quality crypto education has been dubbed as a key roadblock in taking adoption to the next level, according to crypto researcher Josh Cowell, who suggested that it can improve upon one's financial literacy if done correctly.

Cointelegraph reached out to Ray to ask how many students signed up to the class but did not receive an immediate response.

Related: University of Cincinnati turning crypto craze into educational curriculum

Legal and regulatory implications of blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies are now being taught at U.S. colleges too.

Adjunct Professor Thomas Hook of University of Boston Law School recently told Cointelegraph that the law school now offers a “Crypto Regulation” course for students interested in learning how crypto-versed lawyers and crypto companies can best navigate through regulatory uncertainties as they look to take their products and services to market:

“It’s meant to expose future lawyers on the potential issues they may see and the myriad of approaches and regulations that exist as it pertains to crypto [and] the different [issues] that crypto companies may face across the globe.”

Other universities now offering cryptocurrency courses include Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Oxford University, National University of Singapore, Cornell University and University of California Berkeley.

Traders eye $71.5K Bitcoin price as open interest jumps 13%