US Senator Elizabeth Warren has emphasized the risks of cryptocurrency scams targeting seniors in the US, with support from a cybersecurity expert backing her digital asset legislation to prevent future scams.
In a recent Senate hearing, Warren described the significant rise in crypto scams targeting older US citizens:
"Last year, we saw a 350% increase in cryptocurrency investment scams targeting seniors. That's the largest increase among all age groups. That added up to more than $1 billion that seniors lost to scams in cryptocurrencies".
Meanwhile, during the hearing, Steve Weisman, a renowned scam and cybersecurity expert described by Warren, highlighted that unlike credit card fraud, which can be quickly identified, stopped and tracked, cryptocurrencies pose greater challenges in terms of be transparent.
He reiterated that with cryptocurrencies, once it passes mixers, tracking becomes significantly more challenging.
"Once it gets into the mixers, then you're in trouble. There's a legitimate privacy concern that people may have, but it doesn't come close to reaching the scammers."
Weisman expressed support for Warren's Digital Asset Anti-Money Laundering Act, which seeks to ensure that digital assets are subject to the same anti-money laundering (AML) laws as traditional fiat currency.
"Their legislation should have been passed a long time ago. It's a no-brainer," Weisman declared.
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This follows recent reports indicating a significant increase in cryptocurrency attacks and scams during the last quarter compared to the same quarter last year.
Blockchain security company Immunefi reported a 153% increase in attack incidents targeting crypto and Web3 projects from July to September 2023, compared to the corresponding period in 2022. The last quarter recorded losses of approximately $686 million.
Meanwhile, Elizabeth Warren recently revealed that nine more United States senators have publicly supported the Digital Asset Anti-Money Laundering Law.
Notably, Gary Peters, member of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, and Dick Durbin, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, are among those supporting the initiative.
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