Cryptocurrencies have continued to enamour the world, and Indians are no exception to this trend. Recent data by Chainalysis Pte Ltd. shows that Indian users visited crypto scam sites millions of times in 2021.
In 2020, Indian users visited crypto scam sites over 17.8 million times. This figure fell by 46% last year. In 2021, visits to scam sites were around 9.6 million times.
Chain analysis data shows that Indians visited coinpayu, adbtc. Top, hackertyper.net, dualmine.com, and contain. App. These sites alone have seen 4.6 million visits by users in India.
New investors enter the cryptocurrency world as it continues to boom. Naturally, this will attract fraudsters who take advantage of uninformed users. Moreover, regulators worldwide are concerned with the growing cases of crypto scams.
Furthermore, 2022 has already started with news of scams. In January 2022, the Indian ED or Enforcement Directorate attached assets worth INR 36.72 crores in a crypto scam in Kerala.
Investors were fooled into investing in a fake cryptocurrency’s ICO or Initial Coin Offering called Morris Coin, and at least 900 people were defrauded in Kerala due to the scam.
Other states like Karnataka have reported crypto scams as well. Crypto scam sites lure investors. They aim to steal users’ personal information.
What Is The Reason Behind Such Scams?
Rahul Tyagi, the co-founder of a cybersecurity firm called Safe Security, has said that he has seen employees of crypto exchange platforms sharing user information with cybercriminals. As a result, these cyber criminals then start sending phishing links to users on social media.
Also, Chain analysis data from 2021 shows that there is an increase in crypto scams all over the world by 81 percent. Moreover, the majority of scams were the classic rug pull scam.
In rug pull scams, a fraudulent developer launches a scam project, promotes it on digital media, drives up the product’s price, and gets investors. Once investors enter the picture, the developer abandons the project and takes the investors’ money.
Additionally, Cryptocurrencies are unregulated, and hence, investors cannot receive any compensation measures if they are duped. Regulators all over the world say that crypto scams are their top priority.
The North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA) has put crypto scams on top of the “investor threats” list. In India, authorities have proposed laws related to cryptocurrency regulation.
The aim is to make disclosures related to crypto-assets mandatory. According to the proposal, India’s Securities and Exchange Board will be the regulatory body of crypto. However, there has been a delay in bill discussions.
Also Read: Binance exchange implicated in multi-million dollar crypto scam, Pakistan set to investigate
How To Be Safe From a Crypto Scam?
To be safe from crypto scams, users can take the following measures:
- Secure your online wallets by enabling two-factor authentication and not rely solely on SMS verification.
- Use a password manager app to have strong passwords.
- Spread your assets across multiple wallets instead of relying on one.
- Secure your devices by installing anti-spyware software.
