Yen crashes Bitcoin
Europol, Austria take action against crypto scammers
Authorities in Austria, in collaboration with law enforcement agencies from three other nations, have launched a concerted effort to dismantle an online scam posing as a legitimate cryptocurrency venture.
The European Justice for Criminal Justice Corporation, in a press release on May 8, revealed the details of a joint operation facilitated by Europol.
The operation aimed to apprehend scammers who falsely represented themselves as the creators of a new cryptocurrency, operating under the guise of a purported company.
The fraudsters, based in Austria, claimed to have developed exclusive software and algorithms between December 2017 and February 2018.
They lured investors by offering 10 million tokens in exchange for the rights to purchase the alleged new cryptocurrency.
Unfortunately, investors in the scheme suffered significant losses amounting to €6 million, with the potential for further losses as additional victims are identified.
This recent incident is reminiscent of similar scams reported in the past. In November 2023, the arrest of three individuals by the FBI for exploiting security vulnerabilities in banks was reported, resulting in losses exceeding $10 million, which were subsequently converted into cryptocurrency.
In March 2024, a British citizen named Wen Jian was convicted by a London court for defrauding over 130,000 investors of $6 billion between 2017 and 2022.
The proliferation of such scams has led to substantial financial losses for investors. In February 2024 alone, investors reported losses surpassing $412 million due to scams.
Although April 2024 saw a decline in cryptocurrency scams and exploits, with losses totalling $25.7 million, it marked the lowest figure recorded in three years.
PeckShield, an on-chain security firm, noted a decrease in losses from crypto attacks and scams during April, marking the first significant decline observed in 2024.