Fraudsters swindle Australians out of more than $20 million in Bitcoin

In 2020, criminals stole more than $39 million from Australians through scam schemes that included Bitcoin and other payment methods, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) reported.

According to the regulator, last year Australians lost AU$659 million due to scammers. The most common method of theft was bank-transfer schemes. In this segment, consumer losses rose by 40% — to AU$97.66 million (~$75.25 million).

Bitcoin was the second-most popular category. Scammers extorted AU$26.65 million (~$20.68 million) from Australians in digital gold.

Next comes the category “other payment methods,” which included some cryptocurrencies, mobile top-ups, payment systems such as Skrill, Neosurf vouchers and others. They accounted for AU$24.18 million (~$18.76 million).

“Bitcoin and other payment methods have become a commonplace way for criminals to obtain money. […] It is quite likely that in the coming years we will see broader use of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies in scams,” the regulator added.

According to the report, scam schemes using digital assets vary greatly. For example, in one of the strategies outlined in the document, criminals targeted victims on dating apps.

Criminals also promised easy wealth through investments, often urging people to invest in cryptocurrency. Fake accounts of celebrities were frequently used.

Recall that, according to analytics company ChipherTrace, in 2020 the damage from crimes related to digital assets reached $1.9 billion. Over the period, user losses fell by 57% — in 2019 the figure was $4.5 billion.

Targeting Scams — Report of the ACCC on Scams Activity 2020 by ForkLog on Scribd