UPDATED SEPTEMBER 14, 2017

We’re going to officially call it: Control Finance is a scam.

After the below from earlier this week (we’ve left the text as is), we tried to visit the website yesterday several times. It’s down – and likely out.

Score one for the scammers.

**Original Text from Tuesday.**

Control Finance is today’s culprit and, as was the case with a couple other of these online investment platforms, we’re going to chalk this up as Metacoin “taking one for the team.”

What Happened?

Yesterday, Control Finance shut down its Facebook and Twitter presence. This occurred after sending rather cryptic notes about suspending withdrawals, system problems, etc.

Today, Control Finance sent an email to all of its investors, and here’s the unedited text:

We would like to inform you of the urgent news. Our lawyers received information about the conditions for unlocking all trading accounts of the company. One of them is getting the necessary package of documents and license. This will allow us to restore access to our accounts and conduct our trading activities on the crypto-currency markets completely legally.

Blocking of accounts at the moment and suspension of payments is considered to be a force majeure situation. In this connection, we are forced to fulfill our obligations to clients.

This will be organized in the form of, payment of the customer’s deposit (taking into account already previously paid applications for payment of profit on deposits), i.е. according to the formula:

The deposit minus the amount of all applications, for the payment of profits, is equal to the balance for payment. All payments will be made in 45 days and extend until the end of October.

The site will temporarily stop working, but all customer databases with their payment and contact details will be stored on a separate server of the company, this will make all payments to our customers.

Since November, our company will resume its work in a fully legal regime, when all necessary documents will be received and the frozen accounts of the company will be unblocked.

As general director of the company, I ask you to keep your peace of mind and wait for the payment. The first payments were already made on September 11 and will continue, until the end of October. I want to keep my honest name and the name of our company. I will prove that you can trust me and the company.

Puzzling…On a Couple Levels

First up, the email came from an address that was, simply, “admin.” No name attached.

Second, this looks confusing as heck – if you’re us, and you put in $100, but then “earned” $40 and change in profits, does that mean you’re only getting $60 back, since “the deposit, minus the amount of all applications, for the payment of profits, is equal to the balance for payment”?

We assume that the guy with the “honest name” that we can trust is “Benjamin Reynolds,” the gentleman whose name is attached to the Skype account we’re asked to reach out to. (We did reach out to Benjamin Reynolds via Skype, and have not received a response.)

Caveat Emptor

With any and all of these Passive Income Platforms we’re experimenting with here, you have to have a certain amount of faith that things will work out. And you have to assume that you’re going to say goodbye to your money – these are not regulated financial instruments, and it’s the Wild Wild West here.

We’ll keep you posted on any further developments – and what, if anything, we receive back from our investment in Control Finance.