TL;DR Breakdown Australians have lost $25m to crypto scams in 2021 already.ACCC warns residents to be wary of fraud disguised as investment.Nurse loses life saving to Bitcoin scam in Australia. In the first half of 2021, Australians have reportedly lost $25M to crypto scams, with Bitcoin fraud accounting for the majority of the fraud. Australia reportedly also experienced the highest number of crypto scams in the first half of the year as residents fell for scams in different forms (giveaway, Ponzi, crypto investment, etc.) The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) reported that investment scams generally have risen in the country to levels never seen before and with crypto scams accounting for half of the cases. The ACCC Deputy Chair, Delia Rickard, revealed that residents in the country lost so much, noting that Bitcoin accounted for most of the money lost. “More than half of the $70 million in losses were to cryptocurrency, especially through Bitcoin, and cryptocurrency scams were also the most commonly reported type of investment scam, with 2,240 reports.” The ACCC noted that Australians were conned through promises of high profits and zero investment risks. According to her, investments that promise so much returns should raise investor’s attention rather than prompt them to join. “Be wary of investment opportunities with low risk and high returns. If something sounds too good to b...
