A small Canada-based crypto exchange called MapleChange and now the Pure Bit from South Korea has pulled off an exit scam, disappearing with user funds all in one month. The disappearance of MapleChange and Pure Bit with user funds has led experts in the sector to encourage crypto investors to prevent the utilization of minor exchanges with no reputation and cold wallets that accurately represent their holdings.
What is the motive behind all these minor exchanges, anyway?
These types of stuff can't happen if the companies are legally registered somewhere in the government and country.
If you have a company that is registered than you can't just "close shop and run away" because you are still a company in countries eyes and you still hold funds for the people and if you try to run away with it than it becomes a huge legal battle that will see you in jail, people won't risk jail time for these kinds of small numbers.
Hence, if you want to put your money in some company, make sure they are registered with the right places so you can be assured they won't be capable of leaving right away. They can still try to find a loophole that would allow them to keep bitcoins somehow by hiding it and just declaring bankruptcy but even that won't be easy to achieve.