Hero Mining in the Philippines has received a warning from an unregistered digital mining firm.

The Philippines’ Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has issued a public advisory against Hero Mining International Group for selling unregistered securities to the general public.

Hero Mining has been providing Filipinos with the opportunity to profit from their investments in mining equipment. According to the SEC advisory, investors can earn up to 60% of invited friends’ profits and a staggering 240% by staking on the platform for three months.

Hero Mining has failed to register its offering with the regulator and does not have the necessary license to offer investment contracts to the public, according to the regulator. The SEC established that Hero Mining’s offer was an investment contract by citing the Securities Regulation Code and demonstrating that it included the placement of funds in a common enterprise with the expectation of profit from the efforts of others.

Aside from not being registered, the commission warned the public that the company could be running a fraudulent operation using fictitious profits to keep the pyramid scheme going. It went on to say that, as with any Ponzi scheme, early investors benefit the most while later investors bear the brunt of the losses.

The advisory stated, “The offering and sale of securities in the form of investment contracts using the “Ponzi Scheme,” which is fraudulent and unsustainable, is NOT a registrable security.” “The Commission will not issue a license to sell public securities to persons or entities engaged in this business or scheme.”

A further warning was issued to Hero Mining brokers and agents to stop convincing people to invest in the company’s offering. According to the advisory, company agents face a maximum sentence of 21 years in prison and a fine of PHP5 million ($89,357).

A string of public announcements

Since the beginning of the year, the securities regulator has issued more than 60 advisory warnings to individuals and firms selling unregistered securities. It highlighted the activities of Cryptogix, Bitbankups, Frutas Comida Zamboanga, and Lodi Coins, among others, in November.

Not content with issuing warnings, the commission has also conducted successful raids on defaulters’ offices. The SEC, in collaboration with the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), executed a search warrant for Silverlion’s office last month in response to allegations of running a Ponzi scheme.

During the raids, cash was seized, which it claims was “supposedly scheduled to be used for the upcoming payout of profits to its existing investors.”