The UK-based Netcraft, which has been offering a comparable service to the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre, is providing a countermeasures service to the ACCC.
Security experts have applauded the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s (ACCC) new trial of shutting down fraudulent websites automatically. After more than 300 scams were detected, the trial saw dozens of scam websites, including cryptocurrency scams, taken down.
Australians lost $113 million last year due to bitcoin frauds, according to the ACCC. In order to prevent potential investors from falling victim to cryptocurrency fraud, the new trial, which will be conducted in collaboration with the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC), will concentrate on quickly and effectively removing scam websites after they have been reported to Australian regulators.
The ACCC is utilizing a countermeasures service from the UK-based Netcraft, which has been offering a comparable service to the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre for the previous four years.
Sites that have already been taken down include “phishing sites mimicking Australian companies and government organizations,” in addition to “puppy scams, shoe scams, cryptocurrency investment scams, and tech support scams,” according to a report from IT News.
The development was welcomed by Ken Gamble, executive chairman of the private intelligence company IFW Global. As he had “seen the damage these sites made by sophisticated fraudsters have done employing state-of-the-art digital marketing techniques:” he claimed that this is “the best news he has received.”
“These crypto scam websites are unregulated, organized by criminal groups, many residing in Eastern Europe, who operate call centers, taking millions from mums and dads across the world every day.”
According to Gamble, in order to achieve true success, Australian government organizations must also be willing to work with the private sector.
“We need law enforcement involved and collaborate with different countries […] many of these major cryptocurrency exchanges aren’t helpful with fraud investigations, making our investigations a lot harder than necessary.”
Researchers and romantics beware
According to Gamble, Facebook advertising frequently targets those who are investigating cryptocurrencies and “lures them in” by showing them “Hollywood style professional movies” that demonstrate how simple it is to generate money:
“If somebody is wanting to invest $10,000 into cryptocurrency, they should spend $1,000 doing due diligence checks to ensure it is a legitimate platform […] if it turns out to be a scam, it will be the best $1,000 they will have ever spent.”
Investing in cryptocurrencies, he advised, should be done with great research, as many websites imitate larger businesses in an effort to defraud potential investors. He advised prospective investors to “verify to make sure the platform is regulated, with all the right financial license numbers,” at the very least.
According to a spokesman from Cyber Trace, a group of private investigators specializing in bitcoin fraud, the most typical cryptocurrency scam is “romantic baiting.”
Victims engage in online communication with potential lovers, who then assist them in opening an account with a well-known cryptocurrency exchange by claiming to have seen “excellent returns on investment.”
Once the victim sends “a tiny amount of up to $200” to the fraudster’s platform, “they will fudge the numbers on their end to indicate to the victim they have already made a profit, offering to withdraw this amount to build their trust.”
The victim starts investing “more and more… and doesn’t receive much out after that point” once they see how simple it is to turn a profit and take their money.
