Australia Escalates Crypto Scam Crackdown

• Australian authorities are turning up the heat on fraudulent crypto activities.
• The ASIC has hit a significant milestone this past year.
• Australia’s cybercrime police force recently joined global efforts targeting crime crackdown. 

Hacks and scams have preyed on the crypto industry in recent years, targeting millions of victims and resulting in hefty financial losses. This has prompted a response from global financial authorities, who have ramped up protective measures to combat and prevent these fraudulent activities.

Continuing the effort, Australian regulators have intensified their fight against such immoral acts.

Australia’s ASIC Shuts Crypto Scams

According to a statement released on Monday, August 19, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has cracked down on 615 crypto-related investment scams.

The enforcement action is a part of the ongoing fight against financial crime, which commenced in July 2023 and has also seen the removal of over 5,530 fake investment platform scams and 1,065 phishing scam hyperlinks.

ASIC highlighted that the fraudulent tactics have long been used by malicious actors to defraud individuals, resulting in a staggering  $1.3 billion worth of losses  in 2023 alone.

Commenting on the crackdown, ASIC Deputy Chair Sarah Court emphasized the impact of malicious actors on Australians and the need for immediate change to ensure investor protection.

“The quick removal of malicious websites is an important step to stop criminal scammers from causing further harm to Australians,” she stressed, adding that the ASIC “remains proactive in detecting and disrupting investment scams.”

The announcement comes on the heels of Australia joining an international joint task force aimed at eradicating malicious activities in the crypto industry.

Australia Joins Global Fight Against Crypto Scam

On June 5, 2024, the Australian Federal Police’s specialized unit for cybercrime became a member of Operation Spincaster , an international campaign group formed to combat cryptocurrency scams. 

The operation is in collaboration with blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis, targeting ‘approval phishing’ scams, a form of cyberattack that has siphoned over $4 billion from unsuspecting victims globally since May 2021.

Approval phishing scams are a type of crypto related fraudulent tactic where attackers trick victims into giving personal information or approving fraudulent transactions.

Operation Spincaster has involved training sessions from participants across the globe, and so far, over 2000 compromised crypto wallets have been identified within Australia.

On the Flipside

• In the second quarter of 2024, hacks and scams resulted in global losses totaling $573 million .
• Australian regulators have recently approved the launch of the country’s first spot Bitcoin ETF product.
• In May 2024, Australian authorities reportedly sought user data from crypto exchanges.

Why This Matters

Australia’s recent crackdown on hundreds of crypto scams signals a significant victory in the global effort to eliminate fraudulent activities in the crypto industry.

Read this article for more about Australia’s efforts to regulate its local crypto industry:
Australian Authorities Push For Reform In Retail Crypto  

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