In the past year, victims of Cryptocurrency scams have lost almost $ 10 million to fraudsters who claim to be lawyers who can help them recover their losses, the FBI warned.
The Legal Enforcement Agency has issued a new Public Service Application (PSA) in which victims encourage that they are looking for predatory scammers.
“With the help of social media or other message platforms, fraudsters act as lawyers who represent fictional law firms can contact the victims of SCAM and offer their services, and claim to have the authorization to investigate the recovery cases of funds,” the PSA noted.
“To validate the contact, the claim of the ‘lawyers’ worked together or received information about the case of the SCAM victim of the FBI, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) or other government agency. In some cases, victims of scam has contacted fraudsters, who seem legitimate, repair their funds
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As soon as they have made contact, the fake lawyers can try:
- Drop the victim to transfer personal and/or financial information to ‘help them repair funds’
- Request the victim to pay legal costs in advance to get their money back
- Request that the victim pays taxes or other reimbursements to continue with recovering their funds
- Quote legitimate financial institutions and money exchanges to build credibility
Between February 2023 and February 2024, Crypto SCAM victims lost $ 9.9 million in this way, according to data collected by the FBI’s Internet Crime Combination Combuy (IC3). In total, reported digital crimes with a cryptocurrency element resulted in losses of more than $ 3.8 billion last year, IC3 said.
Immuniweb CEO, Ilia Kolochenko, argued that such scams will prolifate itself thanks to Generative AI (Genai) tools that enable fraudsters to create e -mails and websites quickly and professionally.
He claimed that governments must now act in order to distract a potential increase in Genai-compatible fraud.
“Firstly, legal enforcement agencies must be provided with additional financing and additional resources to increase their possibilities to respond to this emerging type of crime. Secondly, Genai suppliers must be regulated in such a way that their AI products cannot be abused, while access to the products are recorded, controlled and controlled,”.
“Thirdly, security training and awareness campaigns must be launched in collaboration with the private sector to ensure that potential victims are well trained and prevent victims of Genai-swam.”