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Crypto Fraud Costs More Than $200 Million This Year, U.K. Police Say
Monday, October 18, 2021
Fraud linked to cryptocurrencies surged in the first nine months of the year, UK Police said, with victims cheated out of more than 146 million pounds ($200 million) so far.
Crypto Fraud Is On The Rise
An expert comment from Ilia Kolochenko, Founder of ImmuniWeb, and a member of Europol Data Protection Experts Network: "Many inexperienced users are intimidated by fraudsters, who artfully deter litigation and prevent victims from filing complaints. For example, victims may first naively invest into a Ponzi scheme and later learn - from the organisers - that the entire venture was unlawful and, unless they take a risk to be prosecuted as co-conspirators, they get 5% of their initial investment as final compensation.
"Moreover, when people lose just a hundred dollars, for instance, in crowd-funding or when buying worthless NFTs, they are reluctant to file a criminal complaint or take legal action if scammers convincingly explain why they cannot get their money back.
"Worse, some of the fraudulent schemes may be legal as a matter of law, for example, when victims are expressly warned about high risks and uncertainty prior to paying the money. Online terms of service and contracts are usually governed by a foreign law thereby making litigation prohibitively expensive and time-consuming. Insurance companies frequently refuse covering cases where the victim may be even at infinitesimal fault. Given that crypto fever is now red-hot, we will probably see a further spike of defrauded victims with no viable means to get their money back. Would-be crypto buyers should carefully scrutinize the contract, ascertain that the seller is solvent and can be brought to court in their home state." Read Full Article
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