Australia allows automatic takedown of fraudulent crypto sites, UK’s Netcraft provides countermeasures
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) is running a new test aimed at taking down fraudulent websites targeting the crypto community there. Netcraft, a UK-based internet service provider, has been asked by the ACCC to provide a countermeasure service to identify suspicious and suspicious websites for takedown. The new trial also sees the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) join as a partner with the ACCC.
Australians lost more than $81.5 million (about Rs 650) to crypto scams between January and May, the ACCC said in June report raise vigilance against the increasing number of cybercrime cases in the country.
“First, we need to prevent fraudsters from reaching consumers by disrupting the means by which they will be victims – whether through phone calls, SMS, email, media, etc. social media. Second, we need to better educate consumers so that if a scam contact contacts them, they can recognize it as a scam,” ACCC President Gina Cass-Gottlieb said in a statement. statement.
Scammers advising their victims on lucrative investment opportunities often use cryptocurrencies as a popular payment method. Since cryptocurrencies are largely unregulated and their transactions are virtually untraceable, scammers prefer crypto tokens to purchase their prizes.
Investment scammers promise huge profits quickly, only to have them transfer funds to cryptocurrency wallet. Others set up fake websites that allow investors to monitor their crypto portfolios while also offering ‘test withdrawals’.
Cass-Gottlieb added: “We need to have measures in place so that if a consumer is convinced to try to transfer money to a scammer, there is a safety net to prevent this from happening.
Not only Australia, but crypto scam websites are also luring unsuspecting victims into their traps in India.
In 2021 alone, fake crypto websites registered 9.6 million hits from India, a Distribution report announced in January of this year.
Conmen is also accelerating their operations in the US, recent reports have highlighted.
US crypto investors lost $185 million (about Rs 1,500) between January 2021 and March 2022 to romance scams and a total of over $1 billion (about Rs 8,000) to other fraudulent activities, a survey by BanklessTimes conclusion in the first day of this month.
America’ Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in fact, warned job search platform LinkedIn, because crypto scammers have become aggressive in their pursuit on the platform.
