Scams

Blockchain detective ZachXBT identifies Martin Shkreli as DJT token creator, earning a US$150,000 reward from Arkham Intelligence.

Terraform Labs and ex-CEO Do Kwon to pay billions in SEC fraud settlement, marking one of the largest penalties in U.S. history.

Major tech companies form a coalition to tackle the surge romance and crypto scams.

The plight of the Philippines — which has a high rate of crypto adoption but is also plagued by fraud — offers a window into why the industry’s ‘do your own research’ mantra isn’t enough.

The Hong Kong police warned on Monday that 11 Hong Kong-based Binance users lost over US$446,000 (HK$3.5 million) in cryptocurrencies to phishing text messages in the last two weeks. See related article: Gitcoin error sends US$460,000 to digital void Fast Facts See related article: CMCC Global raises US$100 mln to launch Hong Kong Web3 fund

As artificial intelligence becomes more human-like, it’s critical to distinguish real people from code and prevent Web3 from turning into a bot zoo, writes Khori Whittaker, executive director of Ethereum Name Service.

An account of a holiday from hell draws parallel to the dark world of cybercrime and how anyone can fall victim to sophisticated crypto thefts.

Guo Wengui, an exiled Chinese billionaire, was arrested in New York on Wednesday for allegedly orchestrating a more than US$1 billion fraud conspiracy that included cryptocurrency, according to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). See related article: U.S. banking regulators warn against cryptocurrency fraud, contagion risks Fast facts […]

Amid the NFT hype in 2022, Chinese buyers’ complaints about NFT scams and price manipulations surged 30,000% to 59,700 from 198 in the year before.

Crypto scams accounted for over half of Hong Kong’s losses from computer-related crimes in 2022.

A crypto tech firm and three of its executives have been indicted for allegedly operating unlicensed Bitcoin ATMs in the U.S. that profited from scams.

South Korea will expand the existing law on voice phishing to include crypto related phone scams.

2022 saw a lot of cryptocurrencies traded illicitly through various crypto exchanges – but that figure only represents less than 1% of all crypto transactions performed. Could things be looking up?

Crypto scammers are deploying fraudulent tokens that appear affiliated with the popular AI chatbot ChatGPT, taking advantage of the tech’s investment hype.

The new leadership at FTX are threatening charitable and political organizations with lawsuits if they don’t return donated funds. Will this benefit ordinary depositors?

Decentralized autonomous organizations suffer from faulty code and lax governance, which the unscrupulous can easily exploit, writes Michael Lewellen of OpenZepplin.

Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour was met with a series of ticketing nightmares as scalpers tried to resell tickets for as high as US$22,000. But could NFTs have solved that problem?

The Hong Kong Police received 1,503 online investment scam complaints over the first 10 months of 2022, 70% were related to cryptocurrencies.

Ponzi schemes, investment scams and rug pulls have drained billions from crypto users in recent years. What new kinds of crypto crimes are on the horizon?

Crypto proved to be breeding ground for scams in 2022. Will next year be different?

The blockchain sphere has been hit with a ton of security issues over 2022. What can we do about it to make things better?

It’s no secret that crypto scams and fraud are abundant – but those doing the scamming might be victims of something even more sinister.

Global cybersecurity firm Kaspersky has warned against fraudsters taking advantage of football fans during the ongoing FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022.

Berkshire Hathaway, the investment conglomerate run by billionaire Warren Buffet, has issued a warning about a fake cryptocurrency website that uses the Berkshire Hathway name.

India has witnessed an increase in drug smuggling using cryptocurrencies and the darknet, according to the country’s Home Minister Amit Shah. 

The United Kingdom High Court has shut down PGI Global UK Ltd. for allegedly running a crypto scam and has appointed the official receiver as the company’s liquidator. 

Cryptocurrency exchange FTX will reimburse US$6 million lost by users in a phishing attack over the weekend, according to founder Sam Bankman-Fried.

Crypto crimes are costing Hong Kong billions every year – but what’s being done about it and what can the rest of the world learn from it?

The market may be in the doldrums, but there’s no better time to clean house and build for the future, writes Clayton Roche of UMA. Here are 5 areas of opportunity.

About thirty investors in India have been allegedly duped of US$54,653 through a crypto cloud mining app, local media reported.   See related article: India financial crime unit cites ‘Chinese-controlled entities’ in alleged crypto fraud Fast facts Investors from Solapur city in India’s Maharashtra state were allegedly duped by fraudsters who lured them to download the […]

Gold bars, cash, jewelry, cars and luxury watches bought with defrauded funds are seized.

India’s financial crime fighting agency has frozen additional cryptocurrencies worth around US$58,000 as part of an ongoing money laundering probe against mobile gaming application E-Nuggets and its former executive. See related article:  Indian authorities probe alleged $125 mln money laundering cases involving crypto, report says Fast facts The additional cryptocurrencies include WRX, the utility token […]

India’s financial crime fighting agency has frozen US$1.2 million in account balances of various “Chinese-controlled entities” as part of an investigation related to alleged crypto fraud with an app-based token “HPZ” and similar applications.  See related article: Tax authorities recover US$9M from India’s biggest crypto exchanges Fast facts India’s Enforcement Directorate (ED), in a press […]

India’s financial crime fighting agency has frozen over US$1.5 million in cryptocurrencies as part of a money laundering investigation against mobile gaming application E-nuggets, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) said on Wednesday.   See related article: Indian authorities probe alleged $125 mln money laundering cases involving crypto, report says Fast facts The ED launched a money laundering […]

Crypto influencer Fatman Terra pitched his own fake investment scheme on Twitter — and found willing investors instantly — in an attempt to educate people about scams in the industry.  See related article: Terra’s Mirror Protocol fixes exploit that drained more than US$2 million Fast facts “In two hours, I received over one hundred DMs,” […]

Indian police in the state of Maharashtra have arrested a man on charges of cheating 1,441 investors in a fake cryptocurrency scam, according to a local media report.  See related article: Tax authorities recover US$9M from India’s biggest crypto exchanges Fast facts The scam may be in excess of 2.5 billion rupees (US$31.2 million) and […]

The National Police of Ukraine (NPU) said on Tuesday it took down a network of call centers targeting Ukrainian and European Union citizens, who have already been duped by crypto scams. See related article: Ukraine seizes funds from crypto wallet funding Russian forces Fast facts According to NPU’s official announcement, the cybercrime network was disguised […]

More than US$100 million worth of NFTs were scammed between July 2021 and July 2022, with each scam perpetrator making an average of US$300,000, according to a report released on Wednesday by crypto analysis firm Elliptic. See related article: Who fared worse in cryptocurrency slump: criminals or legitimate users? Fast facts See related article: Ronin […]

Terry Gou, founder of Apple iPhone maker Foxconn, Saturday said that fraudsters have been using his images to promote cryptocurrency scams and that he has never invested in the crypto industry. See related article: Foxconn pledges to boost metaverse development this year Fast facts In a Facebook post on Saturday, the Taiwanese mogul said through […]

Cryptocurrency is a huge Ponzi scheme, Blockchain-based Service Network (BSN) — the developer behind China’s state-backed blockchain infrastructure — said on Sunday.  See related article: China’s BSN to launch overseas public chain without crypto support Fast facts Crypto is an old hoax in a new form, Zhiguang Shan, chair of BSN Development Alliance, and Yifan […]

Crypto exchange ByBit lays off 30% of its staff. And as the NFT market grows, how do we combat against scams?

Around US$1.5 million worth of 29 Moonbirds non-fungible tokens (NFT) were stolen in a phishing scam on Wednesday. See related article: Beeple’s Twitter account latest victim to phishing scam hacks Fast facts A phishing attack is where scammers use deceptive means to direct victims to malicious links to steal personal information. Twitter user @0xLosingMoney has […]

The Twitter account of non-fungible token (NFT) artist Mike Winkelmann, widely known as Beeple, was briefly hacked on Sunday and used to promote a phishing scam to drain over US$72,000 from Ether wallets of victims.   See related article: Twitter hacker takes over verified accounts to promote fake Azuki NFT drop Fast facts The hacker shared […]

Hong Kong police announced on Tuesday the arrest of a 24-year-old who is suspected of stealing HK$1.5 million (US$191,076) in cryptocurrencies in a physical cash-to-crypto transaction.  See related article: Hong Kong sees high engagement with crypto, Visa research shows Fast facts The police labeled the rare on-site cryptocurrency theft as a serious crime punishable by […]

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said it is expanding its crypto asset enforcement team by adding 20 positions, in a move to bolster its efforts to combat cybercrime associated with cryptocurrency. See related article: Peirce dissents from SEC’s US$100M BlockFi settlement Fast facts The SEC on Tuesday said that its staff strength in a […]

The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency’s cyber bureau has arrested a 26-year-old man for allegedly defrauding nine investors of 210 million KRW (US$165,798) over the sale of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) of a cat-like character named CatSle. See related article: S.Korean regulators to strengthen watch over NFTs and the metaverse Fast facts According to the police, the […]

Bored Ape Yacht Club’s (BAYC) official Instagram profile was hacked to promote a fraudulent phishing link to scam millions of dollars worth of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) from victims on Monday.  See related article: Why NFT scams are on the rise — and how to stop them Fast facts OpenSea, the largest NFT marketplace, has banned […]

India’s Ministry of Education was one of the latest victims in a series of hacks against verified Twitter accounts promoting fake Azuki non-fungible token (NFT) airdrops.  See related article: Azuki spikes past Bored Apes in daily sales Fast facts India’s University Grant Commission (UGC), which has more than 295,000 followers on Twitter, was hacked on […]

No more Burger King, Nike and Muji. This year’s annual focus on marketplace abuse names and shames crypto scams.

‘Lazy minting’ may seem affordable but heightens the risk of NFT theft, writes Anthem Blanchard of Herasoft. Is storing NFTs on-chain the solution?

Indian authorities arrested 11 individuals over the weekend, connected with a crypto scam case that allegedly used the allure of high gains to dupe 2,000 investors out of US$5.4 million (INR 400 million), local media reported.  Fast facts Four of the accused were apprehended on Saturday after being on the run since March last year, […]

A Hong Kong government-run internet security watchdog has listed risks associated with non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and the metaverse as a top “must watch” security threat this year, while both trends continue to thrive in the city. Fast facts The Hong Kong Computer Emergency Response Team Coordination Centre said in a statement last week that criminals […]

Seven executives of scam crypto exchange V Global were found guilty on Friday and sentenced to jail time — but it might not be enough to console victims.

An Indian auto parts dealer became the victim of a US$267,000 cryptocurrency scam after local police closed the case on what was determined to be a hoax call on Friday, local media reported.  Fast facts 29-year-old victim Vinay Jain told police on Saturday that he had been robbed by the accused who had promised him […]

Australian resources mining billionaire Andrew “Twiggy” Forrest is taking Meta (formerly Facebook) to court alleging the social media giant breached local money-laundering laws by failing to prevent false cryptocurrency advertisements on its platform. Fast facts In legal proceedings lodged in the Western Australia Magistrates Court, Forrest alleges Meta “failed to create controls or a corporate […]

Online influencers may be improving crypto-financial literacy for millions of people. But regulators have growing concerns.

Indian crypto scam investigated meanwhile Korea’s Kakao’s webtoon NFTs sell out

The Enforcement Directorate in India seized assets of a businessman worth around US$4.9 million in a money laundering case involving a crypto scam, according to a press release on Monday.  Fast facts Nishad K and his associates allegedly perpetrated a crypto scam in which some 900 investors were cheated out of approximately US$162.4 million. The […]

Hackers scam 7,000 Solana, or US$1.3 million, from would-be buyers of a new NFT collection of the Monkey Kingdom project.

Crypto crash hits Korean game developers, also how to spot Rug-pull’s red flags

Another e-CNY scam busted, meanwhile SCMP to tokenize history

Inner Mongolia police bust yet another digital yuan money laundering case.

Scams like the Squid Game Token rug pull are every investor’s nightmare. How to avoid hoaxes and not feel like a fool? Forkast.News explains.

After recent scams were uncovered involving Walmart and Kroger, and Bitcoin Cash and Litecoin, why did the stock prices fall while the crypto prices rallied?

Police crack a tele-fraud case related to digital yuan money laundering, potentially thanks to the CBDC’s ‘managed anonymity’ feature.

Top blockchain and crypto news: Stablecoins at regulatory crossroads. Squid Game crypto players suffer shocking fate. Are metaverses China’s new national insecurity?

BXH suffers US$130 million exploit, also Squid game token meets deadly end

The big-money world of NFTs is also attracting hackers, thieves and con artists. How do you know if that Ape NFT or digital Banksy is fake?

XREX Inc., a Taipei-headquartered crypto-fiat exchange and trade technology platform, today announced a partnership with TRM Labs, a blockchain intelligence provider, to ramp up its platform’s security and enhance its ability to combat fraud and suspicious activities. Fast facts XREX said in a statement it has put to use the risk management tools developed by […]

Scams and fake news have long dogged the crypto world. This week saw two major blockchain companies and a global retailer get swept up by hack rumors or hoaxes.