A group of major cryptocurrency companies, advocacy groups and businesses have taken…
A group of major cryptocurrency companies, advocacy groups and technology companies led by Coinbase have taken a stand against scams common across the industry.
Coinbase, along with Kraken, Gemini, Ripple Labs, Meta, the Global Anti-Scam Organization (GASO), and dating app company Match, recently announced the creation of the “Tech Against Fraud.”
Technology Against Fraud aims to reduce the most prevalent scams plaguing the industry by raising awareness of various fraudulent schemes and outlining some best practices to avoid becoming a victim.
In a press release, Coinbase cited pig slaughter scams as one of the specific schemes the group hopes to combat.
Pig slaughter is a long-term scam strategy in which scammers spend a lot of time building a relationship with their victims to build trust and “fatten them up” before stealing their hard-earned money.
Scammers often target their victims through dating apps and use romance as a way to build trust. In other cases, scammers first approach potential victims with false promises and fraudulent job offers.
Coinbase emphasized that these scams are not unique or inherent to the cryptocurrency industry or even digital technology, and that they existed long before either were invented.
Chainalogy’s latest cryptocurrency crime report found that approximately $5.9 billion was stolen via cryptocurrency scams in 2022, although the total number of illicit transactions only represents 0.34% of all crypto transactions worldwide, according to Coinbase.
about: US authorities bust $73 million cryptocurrency scam, arrest two
Recently, Reuters reported that US prosecutors indicted two people for allegedly running a hog slaughtering scam focused on cryptocurrencies.
U.S. authorities arrested Yicheng Zhang and Darren Li in April, accused of carrying out a scheme that cost their victims $73 million.
The two men allegedly transferred the stolen digital assets, obtained by promoting fraudulent cryptocurrency investment opportunities, through 74 shell companies intended to conceal the fraudulent operation.
Each shell company was linked to a bank account, which ultimately led to the stolen funds being deposited into a bank account in the Bahamas.
Both suspects now face money laundering charges and a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison if convicted.
