Through Operation Spincaster, the Australian Federal Police (AFP) and the blockchain research company Chainalysis have found a large wave of crypto phishing scams that target cryptocurrency wallets owned by Australians. At least 2,000 wallets have been hacked using “approval phishing” methods since May 2021, causing losses of about $4 billion.
crooks use approval phishing to get people to sign bad transactions, which lets the crooks move the victims’ tokens to their wallets. These scams usually look like fake investment plans that promise big returns or romance scams, which are also sometimes called “pig-butchering” scams.
AFP Detective Superintendent Tim Stainton talked about how important the information gathered during Operation Spincaster is because it helps uncover new cybercriminal strategies and aids ongoing investigations to find victims and stop criminals. The operation is mostly about educating people, giving them tools to stop scams, and giving police officers special training on how to fight these scams successfully.
The AFP’s Policing Cybercrime Coordination Center (PCCC) has been very helpful in this effort. They have shared information about wallets that have been hacked, taught officials how to find the stolen money and come up with ways to spot scams in real time. A recent training put on by the PC and Chainalysis strengthened their partnership by giving important tips on how to spot ongoing scams and help victims.
A lot of big Australian cryptocurrency platforms, like BTC Markets, Binance, Crypto.com, Ebonex, Independent Reserve, OKX, SwyftX, and Wayex, are also working hard to keep their users safe from these phishing scams. The goal of this multifaceted method is to protect Australians from the growing threat of cybercrime in the cryptocurrency space.
