$14 Billion Lost To Fraud in 2021
Most people no longer think of cryptocurrency as science fiction, with investors and wannabe investors becoming increasingly interested in a rapidly growing market of digital assets. However, a growing crypto market also attracts sophisticated cybercriminals looking to increase their wealth illegally.
Blockchain data firm Chainalysis estimates that illegal cryptocurrency transfers hit a new all-time high of $14 billion in 2021, up from $7.8 billion in 2020.
Many people just getting started with crypto take their first steps cautiously for fear of being scammed or hacked, which is unfortunately possible, even if you follow all the security rules.
Things are not all that bad, however. It is a common misconception that crypto can’t be recovered after being lost or stolen. The blockchain forensics field is increasing, making it easier than ever to identify, trace, and recover crypto assets that have been lost or stolen.
Happy-End Crypto Recovery Stories
In its largest financial seizure ever, the US Justice Department recently seized $3.6 billion in Bitcoin stolen during a hack of Bitfinex crypto exchange in 2016.
As another example, a Canadian investor lost all his Bitcoin investments worth $55,000 last summer after malware was remotely installed on his computer. In the following four months, the police followed the blockchain to recover the victim’s funds. The man was shocked and relieved to see all his money returned.
Aside from law enforcement, some firms use off-chain and on-chain analytics and investigative techniques to recover
stolen funds. For instance, crypto forensic investigator CipherBlade helped a YouTuber recover $2 million in cryptocurrency after it was stolen during his live stream.
If you are a crypto fraud victim, you may get some help recovering your assets HERE.
Pick Your Crypto Platform Properly
However, crypto exchanges and platforms may play the most critical role in justice restoration since they can track down cybercriminals faster.
Platforms that process cryptocurrency transactions can contribute to a more secure crypto future if they come together and give up the “it’s just business” attitude. Increasing their commitment to ethics of fairness could assist in bringing to justice those who abuse cryptocurrency and negatively affect the industry.
Thus, Binance and the Ukrainian Cyber Law enforcement organized a joint effort in early 2020 to identify and arrest a cybercriminal organization behind a ransomware campaign and the laundering of over $42 million in cryptocurrencies during the previous two years.
It’s Just The Beginning
Likewise, ChangeNOW, a cryptocurrency exchange and processing platform has a successful track record of combating illicit activities associated with digital currencies, causing a headache for bad actors. Since its inception, the platform has recovered over $16.5 million in lost or stolen funds as part of its broader responsibility policy.
In November 2021, it returned 600,000 MATIC coins to Eterbase, a Slovakia-based exchange hacked in 2020 and lost approximately $5.4 million in cryptocurrencies. Another example is its return of 45,505 COMP coins to Compound Finance that it had lost due to a platform distribution malfunction in September 2021.
Also, in 2019, the platform detected suspicious transactions linked to the GateHub hack that led to the loss of about $13 million worth of EOS and $6.2 million worth of XRP. The platform’s risk management system stopped suspicious EOS and XRP transactions after being alerted to the hack and retrieved around half a million dollars in crypto.
A big part of the crypto industry’s philosophy is the belief that dirty money, illegal operations, and shady business schemes don’t belong there. However, scams and hacks continue to plague the crypto market, casting a shadow over the entire industry. Even so, crypto’s future will be free from scammers and hackers if the ethical crypto community, which is the majority, can unite to make crypto a world without criminals.
How To Report a Crypto Scammer
Let your family and online friends know about this article by sharing this article. At the same time, you can also officially report scammers and any other suspicious crypto activity to the FTC. The Federal Trade Commission could be found below:
How To Protect Yourself More
If you want to be the first to find out the most prevalent crypto scams on a regular basis, subscribe here to the Scam Detector newsletter. You’ll receive periodic emails. We try every week, but don’t want to spam.
Meanwhile, educate yourself with some other crypto fraud-related articles right under this paragraph, so that you know how to stay safe online. Last but not least, feel free to use the comments section below to expose other crypto scammers.
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