The growing popularity of cryptocurrencies has entered the radar of credit card scammers in Australia.
There have been attempts by malicious people in the blockchain ecosystem to steal funds and defraud people. This time, the scammers come from a different area. According to the Sydney Morning Herald report, the amount of money reported missing in the crypto sector is increasing.
Scammers Turn Their Eyes From Cards To Cryptocurrencies
Most scammers now seek payment in cryptocurrencies because their anonymity makes it much more difficult to identify the perpetrators or recover lost money. Users who want to pay with crypto money need to act a little more carefully.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has announced a fraud case in 2021 that reported losses of $84 million in which only Bitcoin (BTC) was the payment method. This loss, described in the Sydney Morning Herald report, was $19 million in 2019 and $27 million in 2020. It appears to be an increase of over 100 percent.
On top of all that, the actual losses for crypto as a method of payment are estimated to be much higher, as not all incidents this year were reported by consumers.
According to ACCC vice president Delia Rickard, cryptocurrencies have become an even more lucrative target for scammers in 2021 due to rapidly rising prices. The ACCC has warned that consumers are vulnerable to cryptocurrency scams. That’s why he said they should be very careful when it comes to questionable investment offers.
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