A consumer warning issued by the Department of Securities of the Washington State Department of Financial Institutions Group (DFI) states that an investor learned of a crypto trading platform called Ethfinance via an unsolicited connection sent by LinkedIn, transferring a total of $310,000 from his DeFi wallet to the platform. When he tried to withdraw part of the initial principal and profit, the investor was told that more funds would need to be added to complete the "smart contract" and then withdraw the funds. DFI said the investor did not remit any additional funds. The investor was unable to withdraw any funds from his account, and his account has been locked. The case appears to be a "prepaid fraud case", but said the allegations have not been confirmed. The platform has also been mentioned in previous complaints, with a California resident reporting that they lost more than $165,000 when they met a stranger online who offered to teach them how to make money trading cryptocurrency options.