The FBI has issued a public warning about three bogus crypto applications that stole nearly $42.7 million from 244 people between October 4, 2021 and May 13, 2022.
According to the FBI, these fraudsters utilize real American company names and trademarks to entice investment. All users who suspect they have been the victim of such fraudulent activities are encouraged to contact the FBI.
Supayos, commonly known as Supay, is the name of a legal Australian exchange and ran from November 1 until November 26, 2021. Hackers persuaded two victims to make numerous deposits into their Supay accounts. They then demanded $900,000 from one of the victims in order to reclaim his assets.
YiBit is the second fraudulent software that extorted $5.5 million from four victims. YiBit was a reputable exchange that went out of business in 2018. Between October 4, 2021 and May 13, 2022, the attackers were active. They sought fees before withdrawing money after enticing 17 investors to deposit funds. Four customers were unable to remove their app balances.
The FBI did not reveal the identity of the third phony app. The attackers pretended to be a real US corporation and were active from December 22, 2021, to May 7, 2022. The FBI revealed that they had scammed 28 victims out of $3.7 million. The 28 victims of this incident, like the YiBit attackers, were requested to pay taxes before withdrawing money. Despite the fact that 13 of them have done so, they are still unable to withdraw their money.
An increase in cyberattacks
Losses from cyberattacks have climbed significantly over the last two years, according to a recent analysis by cybersecurity firm Hacken.
It is projected that hacks in the web3 area cost $300 million in 2020. This value is expected to rise to $2.3 billion by 2021. Furthermore, it appears that it will still finish highest at the end of 2022. According to the figures, hacks cost the web3 space $1.48 billion between January and May 2022.
What’s more, recovery rates for attacks in 2022 appear to be quite low. In prior years, recovery rates hovered around 20%. However, just 4.5 percent of the $1.48 billion taken in 2022 was recovered by police. This would imply that the sophistication of frauds has increased.
