Crypto scams
Front-running scams rampant on YouTube with 500% surge in 2022: CertiK
Front-running scam bots are significantly gaining traction on YouTube, with the number of dubious videos increasing six-fold in 2022 according to a new report from blockchain security firm CertiK. In the firm’s Dec. 1 report, CertiK explores how a wave of front-running bot scams are promising free returns as high as 10X a day, but ultimately end up swiping people’s funds. Notably, CertiK’s analysis found 84% of videos on YouTube mentioning “front running bot” were scams, with the number increasing 500% from 28 videos in 2021 to 168 videos in 2022: “There are common themes in all of these videos: free code and huge returns. Successful runners won’t give away free code on a social media site, they will sell it for a large amount on underground forums.” The scam itself genera...
Aussies warned to avoid crypto paper wallets they find on the street
Australians have been warned to stay away from suspicious-looking fake Bitcoin paper wallets, which work by luring victims into accessing a lucrative crypto wallet but will ultimately drain them of their own crypto holdings. According to a Nov. 22 post on the Facebook page of the NSW Police Force, the scam starts as a paper cryptocurrency wallet with a QR code, which is made to appear like a legitimate Bitcoin paper wallet. These are strewn by scammers in public locations such as streets or parks. An example of the scam crypto paper wallets. Source: NSW Police Force An individual that locates the paper wallet and scans the QR code is directed to click on a link to access a crypto wallet with up to $16,000 Australian dollars ($10,000). The person is then asked to pay a withdrawal fee ...
Crypto scammers are using black market identities to avoid detection: CertiK
Crypto scammers have been accessing a “cheap and easy” black market of individuals willing to put their name and face on fraudulent projects — all for the low price of $8, blockchain security firm CertiK has uncovered. These individuals, described by CertiK as “Professional KYC actors” would, in some cases, voluntarily become the verified face of a crypto project, gaining trust in the crypto community prior to an “insider hack or exit scam.” Other uses of these KYC actors include using their identities to open up bank or exchange accounts on behalf of the bad actors. According to a Nov. 17 blog post, CertiK analysts were able to find over 20 underground marketplaces hosted on Telegram, Discord, mobile apps, and gig websites to recruit KYC actors for as low as $8 for simple “gigs” lik...
Celebrities, Influencers & The Crypto Scams They Promote
Non-fungible tokens, more commonly known as NFTs, and cryptocurrency are still making waves for all the wrong reasons – scams, cons, and phishes are giving these digitally-driven technologies a bad reputation. As Anna Collard, SVP Content Strategy and Evangelist at cybersecurity awareness firm KnowBe4 Africa, explains, this is largely due to the fact that the line between legit and scam is becoming very blurred and very hard for most people to see. “Digital assets like NFTs are being used to drive engagement in the virtual space,” says Collard. “They are also used to handle brand collaboration, reward consumers, and build brand loyalty and customer connections. However, they’re not necessarily working as well as they should, and already there are court cases with celebrities and influencer...
Illicit crypto usage as a percent of total usage has fallen: Report
Illicit cryptocurrency activity in 2021 and the first quarter of 2022 has declined as a percentage of overall crypto activity, according to blockchain forensics firm CipherTrace. The cryptocurrency industry has long held a reputation in some jurisdictions as a haven for illegal activity. However, CipherTrace estimates that illicit activity was between 0.62% and 0.65% of overall cryptocurrency activity in 2020. The firm reported that it has now fallen to between 0.10% and 0.15% of overall activity in 2021. Source: CipherTrace In its Cryptocurrency Crime and Anti-Money Laundering Report released June 13, CipherTrace outlined that the top ten decentralized finance (DeFi) hacks in 2021 and Q1 2022 netted attackers $2.4 billion. Over half of that figure came from just two events, the largest be...
Aussie consumer group calls for better crypto regs due to ‘lagging laws’
Australian consumer advocacy group CHOICE has called on the federal government to provide better protection for crypto investors while submitting a proposed regulatory framework for cryptocurrency exchanges operating in the country. The regulatory framework was submitted in response to the federal Treasury’s consultation paper for “crypto asset secondary service providers” (CASSPs) defined as firms providing custodial crypto wallets and exchange services. CHOICE commented: “As it stands, enforceable protections in the unregulated cryptocurrency market are somewhere between negligible and non-existent.” Outlining four main areas in its framework, the group called for a single definition of crypto for better regulation, a license for exchanges in line with current financial licensing, ...
MetaMask warns Apple users over iCloud phishing attacks
ConsenSys-owned crypto wallet provider MetaMask has sent out a warning to the community regarding Apple iCloud phishing attacks. The security issue for iPhone, Mac, and iPad users is related to default device settings which see a user’s seed phrase or “password-encrypted MetaMask vault” stored on the iCloud if the user has enabled automatic backups for their app data. In a Twitter thread posted on April 18, MetaMask noted that users run the risk of losing their funds if their Apple password “isn’t strong enough” and an attacker is able to phish their account credentials. To fix the issue, users can disable automatic iCloud backups for MetaMask as detailed: If you have enabled iCloud backup for app data, this will include your password-encrypted MetaMask vault. If your password isn’t s...
Australian competition regulator takes Meta to court over fake crypto ads
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) is taking Meta Platforms, Inc. (formerly Facebook) to the Federal Court, alleging that the firm and its Irish branch engaged in “false, misleading or deceptive conduct” by publishing scam celebrity crypto ads. Some users have lost hundreds of thousands of dollars to the sophisticated and long running scams tied to the ad. The spotlight on Meta has heated up in Australia since the start of February, with Cointelegraph previously reporting that the ACCC was investigating the firm over allegedly fraudulent crypto ads. Aussie mining billionaire Andrew Forrest also took legal action against the company for hosting ads that allegedly used his name to defraud victims. In an announcement posted earlier today, the ACCC asserted that Meta “ai...
4% of crypto whales are criminals and they have $25B between them: Chainalysis
Chainalysis data shows that 4068 criminal whales (roughly 4% of all whales) are hodling more than $25 billion worth of cryptocurrency between them. The blockchain analytics firm defines criminal whales as any private wallet that holds more than $1 million worth of crypto with over 10% of the funds received from illicit addresses tied to activity such as scams, fraud and malware. The data is from the “Criminal Balances” section of the Crypto Crime Report that explores criminal activity on the blockchain over 2021 and early 2022. The wide-ranging report also covers topics such as Ransomware, Malware, Darknet markets and NFT related crime. “Overall, Chainalysis has identified 4,068 criminal whales holding over $25 billion worth of cryptocurrency. Criminal whales represent 3.7% of all cryptocu...
