The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) warned that the Covid-19 pandemic will bring a surge of crypto scams.
The threat of sudden rise of crypto scam is, in part, due to opportunity created by the coronavirus pandemic and the increasing number of merchants accepting crypto.
The FBI said:
Fraudsters are leveraging increased fear and uncertainty during the COVID-19 pandemic to steal your money and launder it through the complex cryptocurrency ecosystem.
FBI agents believe the scammers will tailor their pitch to the current situation and be looking for donations for remote workers via email, safety equipment sellers, not going through the established channels for payments, or even posing as charities that take cryptocurrency which is a big red flag.
These scams may also come as a blackmail with a threat to infect you and your family unless payment is sent to a bitcoin wallet.
Internet users are advised to use common sense when making transactions like verifying the legitimacy of the seller and report threats and blackmail to the law enforcement.
Last month blockchain security firm AnChain.AI. reported that scammers stole $2 million in cryptocurrency appearing to sell hand sanitizer, face masks and medication. The security firm stated that as the Covid-19 spread more in Europe and around the world, the cases of scams were expected to grow as well.
