Australian residents have been identified as prime targets for a sophisticated network of cryptocurrency call center scammers, suspected of being run by Israel-based crime bosses.
Evidence uncovered after a large-scale raid of four Serbian call centers and 11 residences by Serbian, German, Bulgarian and Cypriot authorities found Australians to be among the top countries targeted. The news came from a February 23 report by The Australian.
The raids arrested fifteen people and seized $1.46 million in cryptocurrency.
Dramatic police raids in Belgrade, Bulgaria and Cyprus, following investigations in Germany, have uncovered evidence that Australia is in the top tier of target countries: https://t.co/zWv7I3N5Kg pic.twitter.com/k98CPDxwz7
โ The Australian (@australian) February 23, 2023
According to the report, scammers at these call centers allegedly used social media ads to lure victims and offer promising investment opportunities with lucrative profits.
Private investigation firms told the outlet that scammers were particularly targeting Australians due to their relative wealth and an alleged track record of weak investigative efforts by federal and state authorities:
"Australia's wealth, combined with a long history of state and federal authorities unwilling or unable to investigate online investment fraud, has made the country easy prey for the international crime syndicates behind the scams."
Mark Solomons, a senior researcher at IFW Global, a private intelligence firm, explained that because many Australians are "friendly" and "open-minded," they are more likely to pursue relationships online, particularly "if the right buttons are pushed ".
โAustralia and Canada are competing for the top spot. These are rich countries with little chance of disciplined investigation or detection.โ
Solomons said that much of the stolen cryptocurrency is used to finance the lavish lifestyles of scammers:
โThere are Israelis who are getting very, very rich by ripping off Australians and sucking retirement and retirement savings out of the Australian economy.โ
โWe are talking about people who fly in private jets, who have significant assets, real estate, fancy cars and cash. They travel freely around the world, they buy yachts,โ added Solomons.
Although Europol has reported that the multinational operation has stolen 3.1 million dollars, it believes that the real figure "may be hundreds of millions of euros".
Related: Australia Strengthens Crypto Gatekeepers in 'Multi-Stage' Plan to Fight Scams
Compared to other "well-resourced" nations, Solomons urged the Australian government to increase your enforcement efforts at the state, federal and international levels to make Australian investors less attractive to these scammers.
While some reports say Australians lost up to $2 billion to investment scams in 2021, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) reported Australians lost $323.7 million, up 75.6%. to $568.6 million in 2022. according to the Scamwatch database of the consumer watchdog.
$221 million of those fraud losses occurred through the use of crypto paymentsaccording to the ACCC.
Victims also lost an additional $53.4 million in the first month of 2023.
To combat the problem, the Australian Securities Investment Commission published a list of the "Top 10 Ways to Spot a Crypto Scam" in November to raise awareness of the issue.
In July 2022, the ACCC began testing a cybersecurity service that automatically removes fraudulent websites. The test met with early success, with several crypto scam sites going offline relatively quickly.
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