Australian regulator shuts down thousands of scam crypto sites

The Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) has pulled down 7,300 scam investment sites, including crypto endorsements, in one year. The scams often erupted on social media channels and ASIC has been targeting them since 2023.

A recent report by Chainalysis claimed that illicit activity is down by almost 20% this year, as legitimate activity records growth. Meanwhile, Australia’s National Anti-Scam Centre reported that financial losses decreased but the number of scams in the region went up.

Australians lost $2.77b to scams in 2023

The Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) launched a program against investment scams in July 2023. As reported by The Guardian , the program eliminated 7,300 scam websites in its first year. The scam sites included over 5500 trading websites, around 1000 phishing attempts, and 615 fake cryptocurrency platforms.

On average, ASIC is reportedly taking down about 20 scam websites each day in partnership with internet services company Netcraft. The National Anti-Scam Centre accounts that Australians lost $2.77 billion to these scams in 2023. Notably, the recent stats show that financial losses reduced by 13%, but the number of reported scams rose by 18.5%. The regulator admitted that cracking down on scams is a game of whack-a-mole.

The report comes as Chainalysis noted a decrease in global illicit on-chain activity.

Global scams reduce as legitimate activities rise

Chainalysis found that blockchain illicit activities went down by 20% in H1 2024. However, the amount of crypto funds reported stolen has doubled, from $857 million to $1.58 billion. Payments linked to ransomware have also seen a slight increase. The report revealed a decline in the number of victims paying ransom.

Meanwhile, “pig butchering scams” have gained steam in the US with the FBI noting a 38% increase in investment losses in 2023, per FBI’s Internet Crime Report . The report reveals that of the $4.57 billion stolen, $3.96 billion was through fake crypto investments.

UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA) also revealed in its August report that criminals are using cryptocurrencies to “launder” illegal money instead of just using cash.