Australian regulator trials auto take-down of crypto scam sites

Cybersecurity experts welcomed a new trial by the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC) to automatically remove fraudulent websites. Dozens of fraudulent sites, including cryptocurrencies, were knocked offline in this trial after more than 300 were reported.

The ACCC reported that Australians lost $ 113 million in cryptocurrency fraud last year. The new trial has partnered with the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) to effectively remove fraudulent websites reported to Australian regulators to protect potential investors from cryptocurrency fraud. Focus on it.

The ACCC uses the UK-based Netcraft countermeasure service. This service has provided similar services to the National Cyber Security Center in the United Kingdom for the past four years.

Sites that have already been removed include “phishing sites impersonating Australian companies and government authorities,” “puppy scams, shoe scams, cryptocurrency investment scams, and technical support scams,” according to an IT News report. ..

Ken Gamble, Executive Chairman of IFW Global, a private intelligence company, praised this development. He told Cointelegraph that this was “the best news he had ever heard.”

“These crypto fraud websites are unregulated and organized by criminal groups. Many criminal groups live in Eastern Europe, operate call centers and are daily from moms and dads around the world. It is robbing millions of people. “

Gambling said Australian government agencies also need to be open to working with the private sector to see true success.

“We need law enforcement agencies to get involved and work with different countries. [] Many of these major cryptocurrency exchanges do not help with fraud investigations, making investigations more difficult than necessary. “

Beware of researchers and Romantics

Gambling says individuals studying cryptocurrencies are often the target of Facebook ads that “seduce them” in “Hollywood-style professional videos” and convince them how easy it is to make money. I did.

“If someone wants to invest $ 10,000 in cryptocurrencies, they need to spend $ 1,000 on due diligence checks to make sure it’s a legitimate platform. [] If it turns out to be a scam, it’s the highest $ 1,000 you’ve ever spent. “

He said that people investing in cryptocurrencies should do their own due diligence, as many websites duplicate large companies to deceive potential investors. He said potential investors should, at a minimum, “check to make sure that all platforms are regulated with the correct financial license number.”

A representative of CyberTrace, a team of private detectives specializing in cryptocurrency fraud, told Cointelegraph that “romance batting” is the most common cryptocurrency fraud.

This includes victims who are talking online about romantic interests that will help them sign up for major crypto exchanges after telling them that they have achieved a “large return on investment”. included.

The scammer then asks the victim to send a “small amount of up to $ 200” to the platform. There, “I suggest playing with the numbers to withdraw this amount to show that the victims are already making a profit. To gain their trust.”

Once the victim understands how easy it is to make a profit and withdraw money, they start investing “more … and less profitable after that.”