The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has issued a public notice about fake cryptocurrency apps defrauding people of their money. According to the notice, US residents have lost over $42.7 million to these fraudulent activities.
The FBI has warned the public to be wary of cybercriminals cloning legitimate cryptocurrency organizations’ apps to trick their unsuspecting victims into using them.
In the first example, the FBI notice disclosed that cyber criminals cloned the app of a legitimate financial institution in the United States and tricked their victims into depositing money. At least 28 victims were defrauded of approximately $3.7 million.
The advisory published on July 18 disclosed yet another fraudulent crypto app that had swindled some US residents.
“Between October 4 2021 and May 13 2022, cybercriminals operating under the company name YiBit1 defrauded at least four victims of approximately $5.5 million. The cybercriminals convinced the victims to download the YiBit app and deposit cryptocurrency into wallets associated with the victims’ YiBit accounts. Following these deposits, 17 victims received an email stating they had to pay taxes on their investments before withdrawing funds; all 4 victims could not withdraw funds through the app. “
According to their findings, the FBI discovered that 244 people had fallen victim to these cloned apps. They advised victims to report to the FBI through their “Internet Crime Complaint Center or local FBI field office.”
The FBI also recommended precautions for financial institutions and investors to take to prevent a recurrence of this trend.
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