Danny de Hek (born 19 January 1970) is a New Zealand based YouTuber, OSINT researcher and an independent investigative journalist known for exposing Ponzi schemes and crypto frauds. [1] He is known online as Crypto-Ponzi-Scheme-Avenger. [2]
Danny de Hek (born 19 January 1970) is a New Zealand based YouTuber, OSINT researcher and an independent investigative journalist known for exposing Ponzi schemes and crypto frauds. [1] He is known online as Crypto-Ponzi-Scheme-Avenger. [2]
Danny de Hek was born on 19 January 1970 in Christchurch, New Zealand. He is dyslexic and grew up being a part of a religious cult which he was eventually disassociated from. He was an online drop shipper. [1]
An email from a friend in the late 2010s, offering an investment opportunity inspired de Hek to become a scam investigator. [3] As of 2023, de Hek produced more than 130 videos on Ponzi schemes and crypto scams. [4] Part of his work also involves anonymously dropping into Zoom meetings run by accused scammers. [5] . In 2025, de Hek was involved in litigation against Florida-based Goliath ventures [6] .
One of de Hek's investigations was the Hyperverse investment scheme, run by Sam Lee. [7] In 2024, the US charged crypto entrepreneur Sam Lee with running a $2 billion Hyperverse Ponzi scheme. [8] De Hek has been a target of multiple defamation law suits and threats, including from a cryptocurrency entrepreneur based in Texas, Stephen Andrew McCullah, who withdrew his 3.47 million court action after de Hek fought back. [9]