Cryptocurrency scams and theft are undeniably two of the largest and most serious problems in the crypto space. Security issues arise almost every month now. The latest “casualty” was Binance, through which hackers stole $40 million in digital coins. The stolen amount was equivalent to around 7,000 Bitcoins at that time. Hackers stole API tokens and two-factor authentication codes of users.
The latest report from the Financial Conduct Authority claims that the UK cryptocurrency and currency scams in the last financial year have reached £27 million.
What hackers usually do is promote their illegal activities through social media, fake trading platforms and through many other methods. The trick that these hackers use is primarily “luring” the “crypto newbies” who do not really know how the cryptocurrency trading and investing works, and are all for making “big bucks” as soon as possible. Such targets do not realize the potential dangers that arise and quickly get hooked to get-rich-quick schemes, as the FCA report and Dapp Life news outlet report.
The FCA points that such scams may be avoided by raising more awareness that can serve as some warning sign to investors and newbies. For example, people should be very cautious of luring crypto ads and exchanges that promise huge return as soon as one invests.
Back in January 2019, Leaprate reported that 2018 was “the year of crypto theft and cybercrimes”:
According to a report from CipherTrace, a US cyber security company, the thefts in 2018 increased by the staggering 400%, to the jaw-dropping amount of $1.7 billion.