Australians lost over $122 million to crypto investment frauds in 12 months with the under 50 years demographic as the primary target of fraudulent crypto investment schemes.
In General, all manner of crypto scams are surging in the country with the victim list getting longer by the day as the bad actors fashion out more sophisticated ways to ply their trade.
The data was revealed in an Aug 28 Press release by the Australian Federal Police (AFP). The AFP has received numerous cases of investment scams mostly involving crypto leading to the loss of about AUD$180 million ($122 million) in 12 months.
Notices on crypto investment scams
The Press release revealed the amount lost to crypto investment scams, the most affected demographic, and the most common type of fraudulent crypto schemes used by the scammers.
“Australians reported losing at least $180 million of cryptocurrency in investment scams in just 12 months, with victims now more likely to be under the age of 50 years.
Acknowledging there are members of the public under financial pressure, the AFP is urging all Australians to be extra aware of the proliferation and sophistication of scams — especially offers that appear too good to be true.
It comes as the AFP has joined forces with state and territory police to encourage all Australians to ‘share a story, stop a scam’, for Scams Awareness Week, which runs from August 26–30.
As part of Scams Awareness Week, the AFP-led Joint Policing Cybercrime Coordination Centre (JPC3) is revealing new data that shows nearly half of all investment scam losses reported to police involve cryptocurrency.
The data also shows people under the age of 50 overtaking older Australians as the most reported victims of investment scams.
According to the Press release, The AFP argues that financial gain is the chief motive for most bad actors however proceeds of the scams can be used to bankroll future illicit activities like Money laundering, Drug peddling, and human exploitation.
$260 million lost in the 2023/2024 Financial year
The AFP in its release stated that Australians lost a whopping $260 million to investment scams in the 2023/2024 financial year. Nearly half of the investment scams involved cryptocurrency.
The AFP went a step further to analyze the two most recurring scams in the cases they receive.
Pig Butchering scams where scammers build a long-term relationship with their victims before convincing them to invest and Deepfake scams where important personalities are impersonated are the two most common cases of investment scams in Australia.
The AFP warned the general public to be vigilant and beware of investment schemes that are too good to be true.
What to Know
- Australia’s Securities and Investment Commission disclosed that since July 2023 it has coordinated the takedown of 7300 phishing websites, 5,530 fake investment platforms, 1065 phishing scam links, and 615 crypto investment schemes.
- Pig Butchering scams are becoming a problem in the global crypto industry at the moment. An American bank executive was sentenced to 24 years in prison for running a Pig butchering scam on his banking clients.