{"id":25016,"date":"2024-08-02T09:10:21","date_gmt":"2024-08-02T17:10:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.palada.net\/index.php\/2024\/08\/02\/news-18746\/"},"modified":"2024-08-02T09:10:21","modified_gmt":"2024-08-02T17:10:21","slug":"news-18746","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.palada.net\/index.php\/2024\/08\/02\/news-18746\/","title":{"rendered":"Scammers are impersonating cryptocurrency exchanges, FBI warns"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) issued a public service announcement<\/a> warning the public about scammers impersonating cryptocurrency exchange employees to steal funds.<\/p>\n

There are many types of crypto related scams, but in this case, the FBI provided an advisory about scammers that contact the target and pretend to be employees of a cryptocurrency exchange.<\/p>\n

As scammers almost always do, they try to impose a feeling of urgency on the target, making potential victims feel as though they must act quickly because of, say, an acute problem with their account. Such an account may be allegedly compromised, or scammers could trick a victim into thinking that a third party is trying to gain access and withdraw funds from the account.<\/p>\n

The scammer then offers to help the target to secure their funds, but to do so, the scammer\u2014posing as a legitimate employee of the cryptocurrency exchange\u2014first needs the victim’s log in credentials. Sometimes, scammers also send a malicious link to the victim which takes the victim to a illegitimate site that can collect identification information.<\/p>\n

Armed with the information the target provided, the scammer drains the account. In a sense, the false warning that first came from the scammer was true\u2014someone was after their account, it’s just that this specific someone was the person talking to the victim themselves. <\/p>\n

Very similar scams exist that involve bank accounts, but most people are aware of how they can check and verify that the person they are in contact with actually works for their bank. With cryptocurrency exchanges, this is often not true.<\/p>\n

Also, we see a lot of scary stories in the news about exchanges getting robbed or even disappearing with their customer\u2019s money. Some crypto-related scams often deploy imposter websites which are hard to discern from the real ones.<\/p>\n

Recovery services are another successful avenue for scammers. In June, the FBI warned<\/a> of fraudsters posing as lawyers representing fictitious law firms that contact scam victims and offer their services, claiming to have the authorization to investigate fund recovery cases.<\/p>\n

These scammers are usually after more money or personal information that could lead to identity theft.<\/p>\n

The California Department of Financial Protection & Innovation (DFPI) has a very useful crypto scam tracker<\/a> that allows visitors to read and search through hundreds of different real-life scenarios of crypto-related scams.<\/p>\n