According to evidence, Australians were one of the top countries targeted in a sophisticated cryptocurrency investment fraud network with alleged Israeli kingpins.
Australians have been identified as one of the critical targets of a sophisticated network of crypto call-centre scammers allegedly managed by Israeli crime lords.
Information discovered following a full-scale operation on four Serbian contact centres and 11 residences by Serbian, German, Bulgarian, and Cyprus officials revealed that Australians were among the top countries targeted. The Australian reported the news on February 23.
During the raids, fifteen persons were arrested and $1.46 million in cryptocurrencies were recovered, among other things.
According to the investigation, scammers from these call centres allegedly exploited social media marketing to entice victims and promise attractive investment opportunities.
According to private investigation organizations, Australians are particularly sought after by fraudsters due to their relative wealth and a rumoured history of lax investigative efforts by federal and state authorities:
“Australia’s wealth combined with a long history of state and federal authorities being unwilling or unable to investigate online investment fraud has made the country a sitting duck for the international crime syndicates behind the scams.”
According to Mark Solomons, Senior Investigator at IFW Global, a private intelligence business, because many Australians are “kind” and “open-minded,” they are more willing to seek online connections — especially “if the proper buttons are touched.”
Solomons claims that a large portion of the stolen cryptocurrency is being used to fund the scammers’ extravagant lifestyles:
“There are Israelis getting very, very rich by ripping off Australians and sucking superannuation and retirement savings out of the Australian economy.”
“We’re talking about various individuals who fly around in private jets, who have very significant assets, real estate, fancy cars, cash. They are travelling freely around the world, they’re buying yachts,” Solomons added.
While Europol reported that the global operation took $3.1 million, they suspect the total figure “may be in the hundreds of millions of euros.”
Compared to other “well-resourced” countries, Solomons recommended the Australian government increase enforcement efforts at the state, federal, and international levels to make targeting Australian investors less tempting to these scammers.
While some publications claim that Australians lost up to $2 billion in investment scams in 2021, according to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s (ACCC) Scamwatch database, Australians lost $323.7 million in 2021, which grew by a whopping 75.6% to $568.6 million in 2022.
According to the ACCC, crypto payments accounted for $221 million of the scam losses. Victims have also lost $53.4 million in the first month of 2023.
To combat the problem, the Australian Securities and Investment Authority (ASIC) issued a list of the “top ten techniques to recognize a crypto scam” in November to promote awareness.
The ACCC began testing a cybersecurity tool that automatically removes bogus websites in July. The trial had some early success, with numerous cryptocurrency scam websites being taken down quite soon.
