An online vigilante who exposed a US$1 billion crypto scam

Social media newbie is on a mission to name and shame those behind Internet Ponzi schemes. And if that creates enemies, fine.

New Zealander Danny de Hek, who wears geeky glasses, may not be acrime buster, but thousands of people globally probably owe their life savings to him for exposing crypto scammers.

The 52-year-old social media newbie became an online vigilante in 2021 after his friend forwarded an e-mail about a company that guaranteed outsize and clockwork returns. Investors in what was then known as HyperFund it has since been rebranded twice could triple their money in 600 days.

“It’s the best passive income retirement plan I have ever seen,” the acquaintance wrote. That message changed Mr de Hek’s life after a few days of looking into HyperFund, he concluded it was a scam, one that he estimates has attracted at least US$1 billion S$1.4 billion) by recruiting thousands of participants, some of whom put up as little as US$300 or as much as US$50,000 or more.

By March 2022, he had crafted a new online identity: crypto Ponzi scheme buster. He has since denounced HyperFund in over 130 videos posted to YouTube, some of them nearly two hours long, lecturing viewers in a style that toggles between goofball and scold.

“When I looked into HyperFund, to me it just seemed black and white,” Mr de Hek said during one of several interviews from his home in Christchurch. Then I thought, I need to warn people about this.” He is one of the few voices flagging crypto-based Ponzi schemes, which United States investigators say are a severely under-publicised scourge. Just how volatile the market is can be seen in the collapse of one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges, FTX, in November.

Amid that kind of uncertainty, many investors have decided that if their tokens will not recover from the steep drop in value that began in November 2021, why not take a flier on a company that sounds crypto-adjacent?