Bitcoin News and Finance Scammers Pick Bank Transfers Over Cryptocurrency, Australian Report Reveals Skip to main content

Scammers Pick Bank Transfers Over Cryptocurrency, Australian Report Reveals

Scammers Pick Bank Transfers Over Cryptocurrency, Australian Report Reveals

Investment scams have been by far the most common type in Australia recently, a new report by the country’s consumer watchdog has revealed. And while a growing number of Australians fall victim to fraudulent schemes involving cryptocurrency, bank transfers remain the scammers’ favorite way to extract money.

Australians Lose $670 Million to Scammers in a Year, Including $75 Million Through Bank Transfers

Residents of Australia have lost $851 million Australian dollars (almost $670 million) in over 444,000 reported scam cases in 2020, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) announced in its latest Targeting Scams report published Monday.

The review compiles data from the commission’s own Scamwatch website, Australia’s cybersecurity center Reportcyber, other government agencies, and about a dozen banks and financial intermediaries. ACCC Deputy Chair Delia Rickard commented:

Last year, scam victims reported the biggest losses we have seen, but worse, we expect the real losses will be even higher, as many people don’t report these scams.

The agency has registered increasing financial losses to investment scams in 2020 with the total figure reaching a record-high $328 million Australian dollars ($254 million). Reports to Scamwatch increased by 63% to 7,295 and losses rose to $66 million Australian dollars, or over $51 million. Almost 34% of people who reported an investment scam lost money. The average loss was $26,713 Australian dollars, or around $20,000.

Scammers Pick Bank Transfers Over Cryptocurrency, Australian Report Reveals

Bank transfers remained the most common payment method used by scammers, with over $97 million Australian dollars ($75 million) lost through such transfers, a 40% increase over the previous year. According to the ACCC, bitcoin (BTC) was the second-highest payment method, with $26.5 million in losses, or a little over $20.5 million. Adding these to the “Other Payments” category, including cryptocurrencies such as ethereum (ETH) and apps like Zelle or Skrill, brings the total to $50 million Australian dollars (almost $39 million).

‘Romance Baiting’ Scams Lure Young Australians to Fraudulent Crypto Investment Schemes

Despite still lagging behind traditional payment methods, bitcoin and other crypto payments are becoming more common. “The perceived anonymity of unregulated cryptocurrencies can impede the ability to recover funds or identify scammers. It is likely that we will see increased use of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies in the years to come,” the ACCC report remarks.

Amid an ongoing Covid crisis, health and medical scams increased last year more than 20 fold compared to 2019, accounting for over $3.9 million Australian dollars ($3 million) in losses. But in 2020, Scamwatch identified a new type of scam, which it refers to as “romance baiting,” often associated with crypto payments. Perpetrators are targeting social groups which have not previously suffered heavy losses.

Scammers Pick Bank Transfers Over Cryptocurrency, Australian Report Reveals

Victims are typically contacted on a dating app, redirected elsewhere and lured into an investment scam involving cryptocurrency, the ACCC explained. Young Australians, aged between 25 and 34 years, have lost the most money to romance baiting last year – $7.3 million Australian dollars ($5.66 million). In total, citizens filed 414 reports of such scams, with losses reaching $15.4 million Australian dollars (almost $12 million). Crypto scams are by far the most common in this genre (57%), the commission noted.

Other scams targeting potential crypto investors have employed fake celebrity endorsements. The face, name, and personal characteristics of a well-known public figure are usually used to sell a product or a service. This product could be health-related or linked to an investment strategy encouraging people to invest in various cryptocurrency schemes. The report details that victims are offered an opportunity to collect high returns in a rather short period of time from a trading or investment platform that suddenly disappears.

What are your thoughts on the findings in the ACCC report? Let us know in the comments section below.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Custodial Lightning Network Service Attack Discovered by LN ‘Newbie’ — Hacker Strikes 6 LN Custodians

On September 18, a Redditor posted to the r/bitcoin forum and explained how he discovered a way to “attack [the] lightning Network’s custodial services.” The Reddit account dubbed “Reckless Satoshi” wanted to figure out if a “discrepancy between real routing fees and service’s transaction fee can be exploited for a profit.” The researcher disclosed that he wanted to see how large the damage could be and said “it is bad.” 6 Lightning Network Custodial Services Attacked, Researcher Discloses Findings to Offenders Prior to Public Disclosure A Redditor called Reckless Satoshi published a disclosure post on r/bitcoin this past Saturday and disclosed how he had found a vulnerability with routing fees and some of the Lightning Network’s custodial services. The research attack was done in good faith and after it was complete he disclosed the bugs to the offending services before publishing his findings. Reckless Satoshi used the Lightning Network (LN) attack on six different services incl...

Axie Infinity Down 40% Since Last Week’s Price High, Protocol Revenue Outshines Competitors

Last week, the game token leveraged within the Axie Infinity gaming universe skyrocketed to all-time highs, while other crypto markets remained extremely lackluster. During the last seven days, Axie Infinity’s platform token has dropped significantly in value shedding more than 12%. Meanwhile, the game platform’s smooth love potion token has slid over 8% over the last 24 hours. Axie Infinity Down More Than 40% Since All-Time High Not too long ago, the axie infinity (AXS) token was a topical conversation because it reached an all-time high on July 15. At the time, AXS managed to capture $28.93 per unit and since then it has shed 12.8% during the last seven days. The axie infinity (AXS) token is used within the blockchain-based game that involves battles between token-based creatures called “Axies.” AXS is used for the game’s governance system as well as other actions within the game. At the time of writing axie infinity (AXS) is exchanging hands for $16.70 per coin. AXS/USD on Ju...

Play-to-Earn Game From Polker (PKR) Exchange Listing – Endorsed by Akon

The Play-to-Earn NFT based Polker.Game ‘s native token $PKR has been officially listed on the popular centralized exchange BitMart. Polker.game has been in the spotlight recently as Akon, the American R&B superstar and record producer gave his official endorsement of polker stating that the “game is revolutionary” and that Polker is “hands down.. the best play to earn, NFT game in the space.”. With the BitMart listing and celebrity endorsement from Akon, Polker is perfectly positioned to become a major player in the Play-to-Earn league. Watch Akon’s Video Here What is Play-to-Earn? Although not a new concept, play-to-earn has become a trending term due to the popularity of the NFT game AXIE infinity. In the past, previous play-to-earn games have also achieved success – however, thanks to the huge amount of development in the blockchain space in recent years the gaming experience is now massively improved. Play-to-Earn games are essentially free to play and open to anyone and...

China to Crack Down on Copyright Infringement Through NFTs

Authorities in China are going after creators of digital collectibles based on other people’s works of art, the use of which was not authorized. The government offensive is part of a campaign to combat online copyright infringement and piracy with the participation of several departments. Regulators in China Move to Strengthen Copyright Supervision of Online Platforms The National Copyright Administration of China (NCAC) has recently launched a campaign against copyright infringement and piracy on the internet, together with the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Public Security, and the State Internet Information Office of the People’s Republic. A major objective of the initiative is to improve copyright supervision of online businesses by investigating cases involving the sale and distribution of infringing products on short video, live broadcast and e-commerce platforms, and promptly dealing with infringing content, the agency announced in a press r...
Blogarama - Blog Directory