Australia’s financial markets conduct regulator (ASIC) published an article on 19 August 2024, showing it has facilitated the removal of over 600 crypto scams over the past 12 months. It comes as part of a wider effort to disrupt online investment scams. These types of scams saw Australians lose $1.3 billion in 2023.
In the article, ASIC said that it has helped take down 5530 fake investment platform scams, 1065 phishing scam hyperlinks and 615 crypto investment scams.
Regulator Speaks On Australia’s Billion Dollar Scam Issue
Since July 2023, our website takedown capability has disrupted over 7,300 phishing and investment #scam websites https://t.co/fNkLpjPIZZ pic.twitter.com/IEvHKeMJ6f
— ASIC Media (@asicmedia) August 18, 2024
ASIC Deputy Chair, Sarah Court spoke on Australia’s continued crackdown. She said, “Australians are still losing billions of dollars each year to scams. Scammers are criminals targeting the hip pockets of hard-working Australians – they don’t discriminate, and they use sophisticated techniques to steal information and money.”
Court went on to say that on average, 20 websites are taken down daily and that scammers continue to adapt and find new ways to lure victims. “Scammers will continue to adapt and find new ways to lure consumers, and ASIC remains proactive in detecting and disrupting investment scams” she said.
ASIC works with a third-party company that specialises in detecting and disrupting cyber crime to take down reported suspicious sites. Once a malicious activity is confirmed, the process for removal begins. That process includes identifying the relevant parties who can assist the regulator in bringing the scam site down.
ASIC Took Down Malicious Sites Within An Hours Notice
Dexa Trade Markets was one of the most high-profile crypto scam takedowns by ASIC. In July 2024, the regulator received an investment scam report from an Australian consumer. The report was regarding an individual falling for an online cryptocurrency investment scam.
The crypto firm had falsely claimed it was internationally regulated, had billions in trading volume and millions of investors. ASIC claims that the take-down of the scam platform occurred an hour after it had referred the website to the takedown provider.
There was a reported spike in crypto-related scams around the time of Bitcoin’s halving event in April. However, data provided by the regulator shows there has been a decline month-over-month.
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Disclaimer: Crypto is a high-risk asset class. This article is provided for informational purposes and does not constitute investment advice. You could lose all of your capital.
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