Australian regulator tests automatic removal of crypto scam sites
Cyber security specialists have welcomed a new Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) trial to automatically remove scam websites. The trial saw dozens of scam sites, including crypto scams, taken offline after more than 300 were reported.
The ACCC reported that Australians lost $113 million to cryptocurrency scams last year. The new trial will be in collaboration with the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) and will focus on effectively removing fraudulent websites once they have been reported to Australian regulators to protect potential investors from falling victim to crypto scams.
The ACCC uses a countermeasures service from UK-based Netcraft, which has provided a similar service for the past four years to the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre.
According to an IT News report, websites that have already been removed include “phishing websites pretending to be Australian businesses and government agencies”, along with “puppy scams, shoe scams, cryptocurrency investment scams and tech support scams”.
Ken Gamble, executive chairman of private intelligence firm IFW Global, praised the development. He told Cointelegraph that this is “the best news he’s heard,” as he had “seen the damage these sites created by sophisticated fraudsters have done using advanced digital marketing techniques:”
“These crypto scam sites are unregulated, organized by criminal groups, many based in Eastern Europe, who run call centers, and take millions from moms and dads all over the world every day.”
Gamble said Australian government agencies also needed to be open to working with the private sector to see real success.
“We need law enforcement involved and working with different countries […] many of these major cryptocurrency exchanges are not helpful with fraud investigations, making our investigations much more difficult than necessary.”
Scientists and romantics beware
Gamble said that individuals researching cryptocurrency are often targeted with Facebook ads that “lure them in” with “professional Hollywood-style videos” that convince them of how easy it is to make money:
“If someone wants to invest $10,000 in cryptocurrency, they should spend $1,000 on due diligence checks to make sure it’s a legitimate platform […] if it turns out to be a scam, it will be the best $1,000 they’ve ever spent.”
He said those investing in cryptocurrency should do their own due diligence as many websites clone larger companies to trick potential investors. He said that at a minimum, potential investors should “do checks to ensure that the platform is regulated, with all the correct financial license numbers.”
A representative from Cyber Trace, a team of private investigators specializing in cryptocurrency scams, told Cointelegraph that “romance luring” is the most common cryptocurrency scam.
This involves victims talking to an online romantic interest who helps them sign up to a major cryptocurrency exchange after telling the victim they’ve made a “great return on investment.”
The scammer will then ask the victim to send “a small amount of up to $200” to their platform, where “they will mess around with the numbers on the page to show the victim that they have already earned, and offer them to withdraw this amount to get their trust.”
When the victim sees how easy it is to make money and withdraw their money, they start investing “more and more … and don’t get much after that.”
