Last updated on August 5th, 2024 at 08:21 am
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has warned about a rising scam where fraudsters impersonate employees of cryptocurrency exchanges to steal users’ funds. These fraudsters employ phone calls or messages to falsely pose as representatives of crypto exchanges, fabricating account issues or security breaches to dupe unsuspecting victims.
These imposters coerce individuals into immediate action, coercing access codes, suspicious link clicks, or personal information disclosures to intensify the sense of urgency. With this data, unauthorized access is gained to victims’ accounts, draining their digital assets.
The FBI advises cryptocurrency users to refrain from engaging with such communications directly. Instead, they should promptly disconnect and contact the exchange through its verified phone number to confirm any account irregularities. It is reiterated that phone numbers provided by the caller should never be trusted.
Furthermore, users are warned against visiting websites or clicking links embedded in these deceptive messages. The safest approach is independently accessing the official exchange website to verify claims.
The FBI emphasized that users should not share their login credentials or download files from these deceptive callers. Victims are implored to promptly report such incidents through official FBI channels, providing transaction details linked to the fraudulent activities.
Notably, the FBI’s previous advisory on June 4 highlighted a surge in work-from-home job scams, underscoring the need for heightened vigilance amidst evolving digital threats. Perpetrators exploit unsuspecting individuals with enticing but false promises of easy earnings, ultimately leading to coerced cryptocurrency payments that enrich the scammers while leaving victims financially compromised.
In a related development, the Washington State Department of Financial Institutions (DFI) issued a critical warning about an emerging cryptocurrency scam that preys on unsuspecting victims by posing as educational institutions. The scam involves scammers posing as business “professors” affiliated with fictitious academies, business schools, or wealth institutes. With bitcoin fraud on the rise in 2024, this scam notice is issued against this backdrop.
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