Cryptocurrency fraud leads to £2 million worth of losses this summer

Why Should You Avoid Unregulated Crypto Trades?

In the first half of 2021, many UK-based investors lost to the global crypto markets. Such exchanges offer unapproved deals, and the trade is sometimes manipulated by a group of people who control all the activities and transactions recorded at the exchange.  

There are reports of fake exchanges and bogus registrations where users who earn through the trade are denied access to their earned profits or charged an additional fee to claim their earnings/profits. 

In one of the scams, over 4,000 victims in 12 different countries were duped by six people arrested in the Netherlands. The team members were accessing the wallets of the client. 

Certain social media sites and apps like TikTok have been asked to ban video-sharing related to financial services, and the exchanges have been advised to cap the daily amount of trades. The banks are also instructed to block the payment of parties involved in suspicious transactions. 

How Does It Happen?

The fraudsters use multiple strategies like dating sites and tax bills to sell such opportunities. In addition, they post adverts on the search engine, where there are multiple fake testimonials, some from top celebrities and public figures, who claim they earned huge profits through crypto markets.  

The victims should be aware of these unscrupulous offers claiming to get huge profits in a short investment period.  

How To Protect Yourself?

• Do not assume the offers are real if they come from professional websites or through attractive adverts or social media posts. 

• Do not be rushed into deciding, and beware of the cold call that advises buying in it. Instead, get independent research to know the most profitable sectors before taking the initiative. 

• The scammers ask the client to register for their offers and enter their personal and credit card details, driver's license details, or other official documents, which you should avoid. 

• They may ask to transfer the minimum fee to start the trade. Most victims suffered losses; on the contrary, their online account was deactivated when they became eligible to claim the profits. 

• If you suspect a fraud, report it to the local regulatory agencies and the police.