FBI promises big problems for cryptocurrency owners during the New Year holidays

Amid the Christmas and New Year holidays, US law enforcement officials warn of a high probability of cryptocurrency crimes. Frank Fisher, FBI public affairs officer, said in an interview with CNN that «America is in for a cryptocurrency massacre.» According to him, criminals are preying on the money of people who usually celebrate alone.

«They are [шахраї] trained psychologists, so they will try to find the best way to manipulate people. You’re dealing with types who are going to use different techniques to make you vulnerable and get you to lose your wealth,» Fisher warned.

The law enforcement officer noted that such attacks are most often carried out in Cambodia and China. First, the fraudster looks for a victim on dating sites. Once found, the attackers manipulate the potential victim for several weeks, forcing him or her to «invest» in cryptocurrency. Victims are usually shown fictitious financial statements to convince them that the procedure is transparent and that the investment is promising. However, investors never see any real money.

The general public became aware of the interest of cryptocurrency fraudsters in dating sites back in 2021. At that time, the research firm Sophos found out that attackers were creating profiles on several popular dating apps at once — Tinder, Grindr, and Bumble. Once the attackers gain the victim’s trust, they offer to invest in cryptocurrencies. Victims usually install a fake program from the App Store and start investing. At the initial stage of the scam, a person can even withdraw a certain amount of their «profit». However, then the user is blocked and the attackers withdraw the stolen cryptocurrency to their wallets.

Earlier, the FBI drew attention to cryptocurrency ATMs, which are also gaining popularity among crypto fraudsters. Law enforcers revealed the scheme: online criminals pretend to be long-lost friends or potential romantic partners to extract money from victims. Over time, they begin to engage in discussions with victims about finance and investments. All of this is done with the sole purpose of forcing the person to transfer cryptocurrency to the attacker or make a deposit with the fraudsters.

Also, during the winter holidays, the FBI strongly advises users to install ad blockers in their browsers to prevent them from going to fraudulent resources. Earlier, we introduced you to a list of precautions that can protect you from phishing attacks.