Australian federal police have busted a scam call center in the Philippines that used to target men in love scenarios to trap them in fake crypto investments.
According to The Guardian report on November 26th, more than 250 people have been arrested after the Australian Federal Police said they have raided an alleged scam call center in the Philippines that targeted Australian men over 35 on social media and dating apps.
How Did The Crypto Scammers Operate?
According to authorities, the accused fraudsters would work in shifts from a compound to correspond with Australian time zones, gaining the men’s trust before requesting that they put their money in a phony crypto trading site.
After making the men invest in fraudulent crypto, the scammers would take away all the money for themselves.
Crypto Love Scams See A Rise
The Crypto Love Scam in Australia comes at a time when this trend has been prevalent in the industry. Just previously, the US FBI had stated that it was looking into a $5 million cryptocurrency scam in which the accused suspect pretended to be a person’s romantic interest in order to defraud them of cryptocurrency money.
Due to this case, Federal prosecutors in North Carolina were trying to recoup over $4.99 million that was found in unhosted Tether (USDT) wallets linked to a complicated cryptocurrency romance scam.
US FED ISSUES Warning Against Crypto Love Scams
With the rise in crypto-love scams, even the US SEC was compelled to issue a warning for investors to stay safe. According to CNBC, Federal officials had cautioned that cryptocurrency frauds linked to fictitious relationships formed through social media, dating apps, and networking sites pose a greater risk to investors.
These types of scams happen when con artists pretend to be a romantic interest, an old friend, an investing professional, or another acquaintance using dating apps, social media platforms, professional networking sites, or encrypted messaging applications.
Over time, fraudsters win the trust of their victims. They eventually bring up the topic of cryptocurrency investing before tricking victims with phony investments.
Crypto Scams Rise As Exposure To Internet Rises
Over $5.6 billion was lost in cryptocurrency-related frauds and scams in 2023, up 45% from 2022, according to the US FBI. This was due to scammers taking advantage of the speed and irreversibility of transactions involving digital assets.
Both the sophistication of frauds and the willingness of many people to invest in risky assets have grown. One common scam technique is to persuade an investor to transfer their cryptocurrency to a new website where the scammer builds confidence by displaying phony large returns.
Data found that investment schemes associated with cryptocurrencies accounted for 71% of all cryptocurrency-related losses in the previous year.