Main Topic: Scammers using technology to trick Americans out of money.
Key Points:
1. Reported consumer losses to fraud in 2022 reached $8.8 billion, a 30% increase from 2021.
2. Investment scams, including cryptocurrency schemes, accounted for the biggest losses, totaling over $3.8 billion.
3. Scammers target vulnerable individuals through various channels, including social media, text, phone, and email. Awareness of common scams and taking precautions can help protect against fraud.
Israeli entrepreneur Moshe Hogeg has been accused by police of defrauding investors out of $290 million through crypto scams and has been recommended to be charged with fraud, theft, money laundering, and sex crimes.
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration was scammed out of over $55,000 in confiscated cryptocurrency funds through a classic airdrop phishing scam, where a fraudster created a similar-looking address to dupe the DEA into sending funds to the wrong account.
A hacker group, suspected to be Lazarus with ties to the North Korean government, stole $37.3 million in cryptocurrency from Estonia's CoinsPaid after tricking an engineer with a fake job offer.
Scammers are using AI technology to replicate voices and trick people into thinking their loved ones have been kidnapped in order to extort money from them.
An alleged hacker made suspicious withdrawals totaling $16 million from the crypto gambling site Stake.com, raising concerns about stolen funds and the security of crypto gambling platforms.
North Korea-linked hackers have stolen over $200 million worth of cryptocurrency this year, accounting for more than 20% of all stolen crypto, in order to fund the regime's nuclear weapons programs, according to blockchain intelligence firm TRM Labs.
Twitter is plagued by scam bots that impersonate users and offer fraudulent support for cryptocurrency and NFT services, highlighting the platform's lack of effective moderation and the growing problem of crypto scams.
Phishing attacks that exploit hidden links are a real threat to cryptocurrency assets, but platforms and users can take measures to protect themselves, such as using security plugins and verifying web addresses before granting access to wallets, according to cybersecurity professionals.
The US government has gained a boost in its efforts to prevent illegal cryptocurrency transfers by sanctioning cryptocurrency mixers, which allow users to mix their stolen funds and make transactions more difficult to trace, representing a departure from previous strategies of dealing with cybercrime after the fact.
Address poisoning attacks in the crypto world involve tactics such as phishing, transaction interception, and address manipulation to illegally acquire digital assets or disrupt blockchain networks, highlighting the importance of strict security measures and constant attention within the cryptocurrency ecosystem.
Summary: Scammers are flooding TikTok with fake cryptocurrency giveaways, often impersonating Elon Musk, SpaceX, or Tesla, tricking users into registering and depositing crypto on fraudulent websites with no returns.
Scammers are using artificial intelligence and voice cloning to convincingly mimic the voices of loved ones, tricking people into sending them money in a new elaborate scheme.
A cryptocurrency holder has lost $4.46 million in a phishing scam after funds were withdrawn from a Kraken exchange wallet and sent to a scammer's address, with scammers stealing around $337.1 million in total through similar attacks.
Summary: Financial advisors can help navigate the world of cryptocurrencies by dispelling common myths, such as the belief that cryptocurrencies are purely speculative, mainly used for illicit activity, and bad for the environment.
An alliance between a notorious ransomware gang and a group of young hackers called Star Fraud is behind recent cyberattacks on Caesars Entertainment and MGM casinos, signaling a concerning trend in the targeting of large companies by financially motivated individuals, according to security experts.
Scammers are using cryptocurrency in their cons, with a new Bitcoin scam that claims personal data leakage and offers compensation, targeting consumers who are unfamiliar with cryptocurrency.
Sam Bankman-Fried, founder of bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX, is expected to defend himself at his fraud trial by arguing that he did not believe the use of customer funds was improper and by challenging the credibility of witnesses against him. However, testimony from former colleagues and evidence of other cryptocurrency companies' practices may undermine his claim of good faith.
Scammers are targeting Friend.tech users through SIM-swap attacks, with one scammer stealing $385,000 worth of Ether in less than 24 hours, prompting calls for increased security measures such as two-factor authentication.
Online scammers posing as fake tech support specialists, referred to as "phantom hackers," are preying on older adults and fraudulently extorting large sums of money from them, with one Navy veteran losing a staggering $800,000 to these scams.
