BALTIMORE — Bad actors are targeting cryptocurrencies in nearly every scheme the FBI tracks. From fraudulent investments, to tech support and romance scams, and most recently, the proliferation of employment scams. And as Bitcoin reaches record highs, FBI Baltimore Special Agent David Paniwozik sees more people wanting to use the cryptocurrency.
“Fear of missing out. So they want to participate and make money, and it seems like a quick and easy way to do it,” SA Paniwozik said.
But the big problem is that this technology is still unfamiliar to investors, making it vulnerable to fraud.
“There is no limit to whether you want to move $1 into hundreds of millions or even billions of dollars. You can seamlessly move from a wallet managed in the United States to a wallet managed overseas in seconds,” SA said. Paniwozik warned.
Scammers have set up their own crypto exchanges, tricking people into believing their investments have increased exponentially, or claiming that they need to pay in crypto to “unlock jobs” that bring high rewards. I will.
The FBI's Internet Crimes Prosecution Service issued a warning about this work-from-home scam in June.
“What the scammers are trying to tell them is this confusing compensation structure, where if you pay $10 to review this product, you'll get $15 in return. Once you finish the round, the scammer says, Okay, you need to deposit more money to move on to the next one,” SA Paniwozik said.
And when victims try to withdraw cash, they are told that it is not possible.
SA Paniwozik has seen a spike in reports of employment fraud related to cryptocurrencies. Losses reported in Maryland increased from $32,033 in 2023 to $3.8 million between January and October of this year.
“That means on average, each person who falls victim to these scams in Maryland alone costs about $15,000 to $20,000,” SA Paniwozik said.
Cryptocurrencies are favored by fraudsters because transactions are instant and irreversible, but that doesn't mean they're untraceable.
“On the blockchain, you can search for these addresses, and if you want to trace it back, for example, you can find the specific exchange where this wallet was deposited, and then you can take legal action. .Provide a list of all user accounts that have deposited money to this address, and perhaps contact the victim live, telling them, “You are now the victim of a scam,'' SA Paniwozik elaborates. I did.
This is a new proactive approach taken by the FBI as these scams become more prevalent and costly.
According to the FBI's 2023 Crypto Fraud Report, crypto-related complaints only account for about 10% of all financial fraud complaints, but stolen value accounts for nearly 50% of total losses.
Click here to see 12 other Christmas scams.
