Controversial crypto trading platform, World Exchange Services (WEX), recently lost its wex.nz domain name.
New Zealand’s Domain Name Commission (DNC) revealed that WEX’s web address had been registered using fake contact information. The commission explained that it had performed an investigation by trying to contact WEX’s management.
However, the DNC was unable to reach the exchange’s representatives by using the contact information they provided. As a prerequisite, all domain name users must provide accurate contact details, and failure to do so will result in immediate termination of a user’s account and they will also lose access to their domain name, DNC’s management said.
In addition to losing its wex.nz domain, WEX’s other addresses have been suspended as well – including wexbet.nz, wexcash.nz, wexcoin.nz, wxcash.nz and wxcoin.nz (as these also directed users to WEX’s website).
The DNC also posted the following notice on its official website: “If you are New Zealand based and have been affected by the cancellation of wex.nz and associated domain names – and have reason to suspect any fraudulent or criminal activity – we urge you to immediately contact your local Police station and report a crime or make a report via Netsafe https://www.netsafe.org.nz/report/”
As CryptoGlobe reported in October, there have now been at least 35 confirmed police reports filed against WEX exchange. The complaint reports have been filed by the exchange’s users who claim that they have been unable to withdraw their funds from WEX’s platform for several months.
In early August, a Reddit user said he made the mistake of depositing $11,000 in litecoin (LTC) on WEX exchange. WEX had rebranded itself as it was previously known as BTC-e, and the Redditor may have thought that the platform’s management had improved. However, his large deposit was “unavailable” (according to the exchange’s customer support team) almost as soon as he had conducted the transaction.
At the time, the panicked user had said he was “100% confident” that his funds were permanently unrecoverable – implying that the exchange stole his money. In October, there had been reports that WEX’s ownership had been transferred over to a Ukrainian militia fighter named Dmitry Khavchenko.
In response to questions regarding the exchange’s questionable operations, the company’s CEO, Dmitri Vasiliev, said he was no longer in charge of managing the platform as it had been sold to Khavchenko’s firm. But WEX was still registered with the Corporate Regulatory Authority of Singapore under Vasilev’s name – and it now remains unclear as to who is actually managing the exchange at present.
