# Cryptocurrency scams



## greggles (6 June 2021)

With interest in cryptocurrencies at an all time high, it's unsurprising that cryptocurrency scams would start proliferating.

I received this via email recently.




An obvious scam. Be careful out there. If anyone comes across any other cyptocurrency scams be sure to post them to help others identify them.


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## Garpal Gumnut (7 June 2021)

greggles said:


> With interest in cryptocurrencies at an all time high, it's unsurprising that cryptocurrency scams would start proliferating.
> 
> I received this via email recently.
> 
> ...




Perhaps in this day and age, anyone taken in by these scams is " going to get taken in". It is a bit like my Victorian cousins going for a swim in the tepid waters off The Strand when a large crocodile was sighted there last week. 

My old reef fishing mate Richard Gluyas is reporting in a newspaper of record this morning. 


> Casinos, cryptocurrency exchanges and money transfer businesses are on notice that they are high-risk sectors that criminals seek to exploit to launder the proceeds of crime, Austrac chief executive Nicole Rose has warned.




I must admit that after signing up to a Crypto seller of "repute",  for live information on my dart exercise with ETH, I have received an extraordinary amount of spam via email and telephonic communication. 

My Nigerian in-laws Chief Precious MacKenzie and his wife Innosense are dealing with the matter for me.

I also have received more visits at the Hotel from the Sunday Christians flogging free newspapers, so it ain't all bad. They are a nice bunch of harmless believers. 

gg


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## Eframe (10 July 2021)

Theinvestmentcentre.com
Unregulated broker who uses a fake trading platform to manipulate the market so they can deceive you into investing.
Once they have convinced you into buying Bit Coins you never get your money back.
I wonder how many lives they destroy?


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## basilio (8 December 2021)

ABC has a detailed  outstanding story on the way 3 different people were scammed through crypto currency operators.

They had taken good care  to verify the credentials of their advisors -  but they lost their money just the same.  The Federal police believe $100m has been scammed this year alone.

Cryptocurrency scams targeting Australians as scammers bank more than $100 million  ​By consumer affairs reporter Amy Bainbridge and the Specialist Reporting Team's Lucy Kent
Posted 6h ago6 hours ago, updated 1h ago1 hours ago


 Three families, three separate crypto scams. (ABC News)
Help keep family & friends informed by sharing this article



They're three families, all from different parts of Australia.

They have vastly different backgrounds and financial situations.

But one common thread binds them: they have all been embroiled in scams involving cryptocurrency, the decentralised digital currency.
These scams have crippled their futures, with hundreds of thousands of dollars funnelled into the hands of cybercriminals, and lost forever. 

Australian Federal Police say cryptocurrency scams have "exploded" during the pandemic, with new figures from the Australian consumer watchdog showing a 172 per cent increase in losses between January and November this year, totalling $109 million. 

What is cryptocurrency?​
Cryptocurrency, or "crypto", is decentralised "digital money" 
There are more than 10,000 cryptocurrencies in use around the world
The Australian Tax Office estimates up to 600,000 Australians have invested in "crypto-assets"
Some cryptocurrencies have exploded it value over the past two years    
The technology has been praised for its portability, inflation resistance and transparency
But criticisms centre on its exchange rate volatility and its susceptibility to illegal activity and scams 









						Emma and Hugo were saving for a house deposit. Then they tried to invest in cryptocurrency and lost it all
					

Australian police say cryptocurrency scams have "exploded" during the pandemic. These three families were sucked in.




					www.abc.net.au


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## moXJO (8 December 2021)

Should be noted that this is off the major platforms. Trading binance, coinspot is fairly vanilla


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## moXJO (8 December 2021)

basilio said:


> ABC has a detailed  outstanding story on the way 3 different people were scammed through crypto currency operators.
> 
> They had taken good care  to verify the credentials of their advisors -  but they lost their money just the same.  The Federal police believe $100m has been scammed this year alone.
> 
> ...



People get scammed because they get greedy or just stupid. And people are generally stupid


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## againsthegrain (8 December 2021)

moXJO said:


> People get scammed because they get greedy or just stupid. And people are generally stupid



to be fair heaps people get scammed in dating scams 100k+ easy
ITunes cards, fake ato etc etc


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## moXJO (8 December 2021)

againsthegrain said:


> to be fair heaps people get scammed in dating scams 100k+ easy
> ITunes cards, fake ato etc etc



I've known different guys that have been scammed in all of them and warned them as they were doing it that "it's a scam".
They all for some reason refuse to believe it and lose even more money. It's the same stupidity in  general.

People have completely irrational moments of brain loss. FOMO is a big driver as is lack of attention. 
"In for a penny' is another killer'.


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## basilio (8 December 2021)

moXJO said:


> People get scammed because they get greedy or just stupid. And people are generally stupid




Did you read the story moXjo ?  How about responding to the particular detailed examples of the people who lost their money and how it happened.


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## over9k (8 December 2021)

What kind of idiot pumps thousands into anything they learn about from an "unsolicited phone call"? 

This is a complete non-issue. The exact same thing has been done since phones were invented, crypto is just the latest bait they're using. 

Can we please move on?


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## moXJO (8 December 2021)

basilio said:


> Did you read the story moXjo ?  How about responding to the particular detailed examples of the people who lost their money and how it happened.



The unsolicited phonecall and the Facebook ad is where I stopped. If you think either of these is reasonable then crypto is not for you. Just saying.

Dumb and greedy.


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## over9k (8 December 2021)

moXJO said:


> The unsolicited phonecall and the Facebook ad is where I stopped. If you think either of these is reasonable then crypto is not for you. Just saying.
> 
> Dumb and greedy.



If you keep reading, it's the oldest method in the book - the punter throws a bit in to test the water, the scammer "lets" it yield a great return, the punter goes "ok well the test went well, let's throw some more in" (so greed takes over) and then bam, the scammer takes the increased amount. 

It's like the idiots at the casino that play a small amount, win, then throw some more on the table trying to win more and thus then when they inevitably lose lose big rather than small.


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## moXJO (8 December 2021)

over9k said:


> If you keep reading, it's the oldest method in the book - the punter throws a bit in to test the water, the scammer "lets" it yield a great return, the punter goes "ok well the test went well, let's throw some more in" (so greed takes over) and then bam, the scammer takes the increased amount.
> 
> It's like the idiots at the casino that play a small amount, win, then throw some more on the table trying to win more and thus then when they inevitably lose lose big rather than small.



It's always a 'blinded by greed' situation. 
Did they stop and research for literally 1 min?
What else would you call it but stupidity and greed


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## over9k (8 December 2021)

moXJO said:


> It's always a 'blinded by greed' situation.
> Did they stop and research for literally 1 min?
> What else would you call it but stupidity and greed






Classic case of being on the top of mount stupid and not realising it. 

You know, when you think you know what you're doing vs know you know what you're doing.


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## Joe Blow (8 December 2021)

The amount of bad actors trying to register at ASF to promote cryptocurrency scams, crypto brokers, or other dodgy crypto schemes is simply off the charts at the moment. I've been playing whack-a-mole with these jokers for months. They are coming from Africa, they are coming from Asia, they are coming from Eastern Europe and Russia, and the ones using VPNs... well, I have no idea where they are coming from. I even have people from Australia pushing crypto referral codes, "Get $10 with your first deposit at Dodgy Brothers Crypto! Just use my link!". 

This is worse than anything I have seen in over seventeen years. The scammers are out in force anywhere they think they can get some views. Be careful out there.


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## over9k (8 December 2021)

Joe Blow said:


> The amount of bad actors trying to register at ASF to promote cryptocurrency scams, crypto brokers, or other dodgy crypto schemes is simply off the charts at the moment. I've been playing whack-a-mole with these jokers for months. They are coming from Africa, they are coming from Asia, they are coming from Eastern Europe and Russia, and the ones using VPNs... well, I have no idea where they are coming from. I even have people from Australia pushing crypto referral codes, "Get $10 with your first deposit at Dodgy Brothers Crypto! Just use my link!".
> 
> This is worse than anything I have seen in over seventeen years. The scammers are out in force anywhere they think they can get some views. Be careful out there.



For anyone else concerned about this, the exchange I use, "swyftx", is one of the legitimate ones and their service is impeccable (finding and refunding a couple of glitched transactions etc for me, that kind of thing).

Just in case there's counterfeit versions of their site out, their legit website is here: https://trade.swyftx.com.au/login/

They are not paying me to post this.


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## basilio (8 December 2021)

Joe Blow said:


> The amount of bad actors trying to register at ASF to promote cryptocurrency scams, crypto brokers, or other dodgy crypto schemes is simply off the charts at the moment. I've been playing whack-a-mole with these jokers for months. They are coming from Africa, they are coming from Asia, they are coming from Eastern Europe and Russia, and the ones using VPNs... well, I have no idea where they are coming from. I even have people from Australia pushing crypto referral codes, "Get $10 with your first deposit at Dodgy Brothers Crypto! Just use my link!".
> 
> This is worse than anything I have seen in over seventeen years. The scammers are out in force anywhere they think they can get some views. Be careful out there.




Says a lot doesn't it ?  The fact is Joe doesn't have the time or capacity to individually identify each scam.   In fact it is possible that one of the organisations is actually on teh level ! But with a lifetime of experience he has just killed the lot rather than allow any potential bad actor to impact on the ASF community. Just for interest I wonder how other investment websites are handling these advertisers ? Any observations ?
...............................................................................................................................................
I'm not that impressed with moXJo and over9k dismissal of the very detailed stories in the ABC article.  In fact it was moXJo who offered an exceptionally frank series of observations  to my questions and noted just how rife scamming and fraud was in the crypto currency arena.

The stories were chosen  by the ABC because they represented a cross section of the scams that led to losing hundreds of thousands of dollars. They were  very clever scams and used crypto currency as vehicles for their execution.









						Emma and Hugo were saving for a house deposit. Then they tried to invest in cryptocurrency and lost it all
					

Australian police say cryptocurrency scams have "exploded" during the pandemic. These three families were sucked in.




					www.abc.net.au


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## moXJO (8 December 2021)

Joe Blow said:


> The amount of bad actors trying to register at ASF to promote cryptocurrency scams, crypto brokers, or other dodgy crypto schemes is simply off the charts at the moment. I've been playing whack-a-mole with these jokers for months. They are coming from Africa, they are coming from Asia, they are coming from Eastern Europe and Russia, and the ones using VPNs... well, I have no idea where they are coming from. I even have people from Australia pushing crypto referral codes, "Get $10 with your first deposit at Dodgy Brothers Crypto! Just use my link!".
> 
> This is worse than anything I have seen in over seventeen years. The scammers are out in force anywhere they think they can get some views. Be careful out there.



You mean I'm not a beneficiary from African royalty😢

For all you partial to click types:
Never click links from unknown sources.

People can now spoof and sim swap your mobile number. Former can receive texts for 2fa. 

Block apps from sending info.

Never give details about yourself to random calls. If they say they are the ato tell them to give you a reference # and call them back. 

Don't trust anything if it involves your money. Block out sales pitches and do the research.

There so many scams it's not funny


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## basilio (8 December 2021)

over9k said:


> For anyone else concerned about this, the exchange "swyftx" is one of the legitimate ones and their service is impeccable (finding and refunding a couple of glitched transactions etc for me, that kind of thing).
> 
> Just in case there's counterfeit versions of their site out, their legit website is here: https://trade.swyftx.com.au/login/
> 
> They are not paying me to post this.




That was useful.  Certainly had some glowing reviews of what they do.








						Swyftx Review 2022 | Fees, Facts & WARNINGS - Marketplace Fairness
					

What is Swyftx?Swyftx is one of the best Australian cryptocurrency exchanges, and it has achieved this due to several main reasons. Swyftx offers more than + cryptocurrencies, it is AUSTRAC-registered, compliant with KYC/AML regulations, has low fees, and you can earn interest on coins. Since...




					www.marketplacefairness.org


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## Joe Blow (8 December 2021)

Just another quick anecdote. I have a friend who is very sceptical. Someone he knows got into Cardano very early. Needless to say, that someone turned $25,000 into $2 million in short order. Sceptical friend dives into Cardano too and in September he comes over for few cold ones and a chin wag. He brought up crypto and when I mentioned that crypto was facing some regulatory issues going forward he said, "They've been saying that for years."

This friend is the last person I though would jump onto the crypto bandwagon. The fact that he is on board tells me everything I need to know about crypto. Cardano has halved in price since September and I haven't brought up crypto with him since.


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## over9k (8 December 2021)

Just guessing here but I presume that at least @basilio is thinking about doing some crypto trading but is worried about getting scammed etc after hearing all the horror stories, so I can give anyone here a legit affiliate link for swyftx to save you a bit on fees if you want. 

Just shoot me an inbox message and I'll send it over.


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## moXJO (8 December 2021)

basilio said:


> Says a lot doesn't it ?  The fact is Joe doesn't have the time or capacity to individually identify each scam.   In fact it is possible that one of the organisations is actually on teh level ! But with a lifetime of experience he has just killed the lot rather than allow any potential bad actor to impact on the ASF community. Just for interest I wonder how other investment websites are handling these advertisers ? Any observations ?
> ...............................................................................................................................................
> I'm not that impressed with moXJo and over9k dismissal of the very detailed stories in the ABC article.  In fact it was moXJo who offered an exceptionally frank series of observations  to my questions and noted just how rife scamming and fraud was in the crypto currency arena.
> 
> ...



For me it's hard to understand how people are caught up in scams. But I was from a neighbourhood full of junkies and criminals so it was learned pretty early on. I think most have enough common-sense. But greed can make you push the button.
You need to block out the noise of the story (and this goes for everything) example to abc story:
1st story
*1.One day he received an unsolicited phone call*
Ok it should have ended here. You can investigate after you hang up. For every $1000 you are thinking of putting in, take another day of thorough investigation. 
Here's where they probably done zero:
*"And then that's when they told us that the website we've been using isn't their website." 

2.The call was from someone posing as an investment manager from Irish brokerage Druid.*
Another country 
This is a old as phones, scam. 

Most likely sent links, papers, the whole package to enclose them in the scam.
Stop at the phonecall.

The rest of the story was just noise. Stupid stupid noise.

2nd story:

*he was looking at ways to invest his savings and came across an advertisement on Facebook to invest in Bitcoin — one of the most well-known cryptocurrencies.  *

once again clicked the first thing on Facebook of all things. So investing in something he knows little about with zero research.



*His account manager said if he invested another $100,000, there would be an "opportunity to make his money back" in a few months through the companies developing vaccines.*

Scam 101. In for a penny in for a pound mindset kicks in. Even though you know something is dreadfully wrong.

*By then, he'd searched harder online and found dozens of negative reviews.*
So he did it backwards. Bit late after you commit all your money 

The rest is noise. Break the stories down and you get.

Got sold on greed

Did no research.


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## moXJO (8 December 2021)

In fact greed is always central with outliers 
Fomo
In for a penny.
Blind faith.
Wing it.
My friend....


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## over9k (8 December 2021)

basilio said:


> Says a lot doesn't it ?  The fact is Joe doesn't have the time or capacity to individually identify each scam.   In fact it is possible that one of the organisations is actually on teh level ! But with a lifetime of experience he has just killed the lot rather than allow any potential bad actor to impact on the ASF community. Just for interest I wonder how other investment websites are handling these advertisers ? Any observations ?
> ...............................................................................................................................................
> I'm not that impressed with moXJo and over9k dismissal of the very detailed stories in the ABC article.  In fact it was moXJo who offered an exceptionally frank series of observations  to my questions and noted just how rife scamming and fraud was in the crypto currency arena.
> 
> ...



I didn't dismiss their pain or loss or whatever, I dismissed sympathy for it. 

Sending money places is something you think of essentially the opposite way to our legal system or whatever - you have a presumption of guilt, not of innocence. You assume guilt until you know otherwise, not the other way around. 

I mean, honestly, they threw thousands at something after getting an unsolicited phone call. How was that not a massive red flag all on its own?

Here's how much I (currently, the amount obviously changes) have sitting with swyftx: 




And I make withdrawals bouncing back & forth across crypto exchanges to then buy stocks or etf's or whatever running swing plays sometimes on an almost daily basis as I've outlined in the coronavirus thread. 

Here's one I did just now: 






I'm not trying to be awful here but if you dump nearly half a million into something you learned about on an unsolicited phone call from a guy that literally said "trust me" then you have nobody to blame but yourself.


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## over9k (8 December 2021)

moXJO said:


> For me it's hard to understand how people are caught up in scams. But I was from a neighbourhood full of junkies and criminals so it was learned pretty early on. I think most have enough common-sense. But greed can make you push the button.
> You need to block out the noise of the story (and this goes for everything) example to abc story:
> 1st story
> *1.One day he received an unsolicited phone call*
> ...



Good post. Like I said, I'll inbox an affiliate link for swyftx to anyone still hesitant/that wants one. I think it pretty obvious I'm the real deal.


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## over9k (9 December 2021)

Here you go: 





14 minute response time at 10pm on a thursday. That's nearly at the single digit response time i got the last time I had an issue with my bloomberg terminal outside of market hours, which took 6 minutes. 

I have no sympathy for the people that got scammed at all.


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## DannyB0000 (9 December 2021)

Scammers are using celebrities to promote dodgy Crypto investments without their consent.  Dick Smith, Mel Gibson, Bill Gates etc to make their ads look more believable and legit.  you cant believe everything you read on the internet.   If you’re educated and you do your homework you won’t fall for these scams but scammers are very creative.


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## qldfrog (10 December 2021)

moXJO said:


> For me it's hard to understand how people are caught up in scams. But I was from a neighbourhood full of junkies and criminals so it was learned pretty early on. I think most have enough common-sense. But greed can make you push the button.
> You need to block out the noise of the story (and this goes for everything) example to abc story:
> 1st story
> *1.One day he received an unsolicited phone call*
> ...



I also noticed in similar stories that once victims have started losing $, they actually guess/know they have been done yet there is often this refusal to admit being conned..
A denial and a double or nothing attitude where a weird" i have probably lost $50k but i have this 2% hope that maybe i could be right ultimately" and they add often even more $ before being blown uo to pieces.
Such is mankind..fully irrational but this is what it is


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## moXJO (10 December 2021)

qldfrog said:


> I also noticed in similar stories that once victims have started losing $, they actually guess/know they have been done yet there is often this refusal to admit being conned..
> A denial and a double or nothing attitude where a weird" i have probably lost $50k but i have this 2% hope that maybe i could be right ultimately" and they add often even more $ before being blown uo to pieces.
> Such is mankind..fully irrational but this is what it is



A friend of mine was cold called 30 ish years ago. I was 17-19ish at the time and he was in his 30s and owned his own building company.

Chinese company said they would invest into Chinese companies back in the day all he had to do was invest. He puts $5000 into it and makes a 50% return in a couple of months and tells me about it as I was into investing.

I asked a few questions and tell him it's a scam. And keep repeating its a scam. He goes to put in $50k and I'm basically threatening him at this point. 

Get busy and don't see him for a while and during that time after he invests the $50k they tell him if he puts in a bit more he will retire the next year. He dumped about $140k all up into it.

Goooooone.

He was too embarrassed to talk to me for months.


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## over9k (10 December 2021)

moXJO said:


> A friend of mine was cold called 30 ish years ago. I was 17-19ish at the time and he was in his 30s and owned his own building company.
> 
> Chinese company said they would invest into Chinese companies back in the day all he had to do was invest. He puts $5000 into it and makes a 50% return in a couple of months and tells me about it as I was into investing.
> 
> ...



My father's friend has done the same with a mail order "bride" from thailand or whatever. Just sent "her" money over and over, paid for "her" to fly over here, "she" then had a car accident on the way to the airport and missed "her" flight that he'd paid for and now of course needs money from him to fix "her" car she just crashed, on and on and on this has gone... 

He's about 30k in and still can't accept that "she" is a "he" and "she" isn't coming. Bloody depressing to see as the old fella is not exactly well off so he's very nearly done his life savings. 

We *cannot* convince him that he's being had. He's just so desperate to believe that it's real that he's going to lose everything on it.


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## basilio (13 February 2022)

Another  twist on crypto scams. Not a novice investor by any stretch.  What is happening however is  an explosion of very clever IT scammers that are outpacing authorities. I note Joe Blows observations on this in December.

Well worth reading full for the details of how this works.

Australian cryptocurrency investors targeted in fake crypto app scam, but Google says it 'takes action' when 'violations found'​By consumer affairs reporter Amy Bainbridge and the Specialist Reporting Team's Lucy Kent
Posted Thu 10 Feb 2022 at 4:19amThursday 10 Feb 2022 at 4:19am, updated Thu 10 Feb 2022 at 7:57amThursday 10 Feb 2022 at 7:57am


 Scammers are targeting Australians investing in cryptocurrency.(ABC News: Brendan Esposito)
Help keep family & friends informed by sharing this article



Scammers are exploiting the popularity of cryptocurrency by setting up fake apps to steal hundreds of thousands of dollars from would-be Australian crypto investors. 
Key points:​
The Australian Tax Office estimates up to 600,000 Australians have invested in "crypto-assets"
Experts say scammers are using the popularity of crypto, and work too fast for tech companies to act 
The latest scam involves fake apps offered on stores like Google Play 









						'I didn't fully understand': Paul invested thousands in crypto through an app — days later it was gone
					

Scammers are exploiting the popularity of cryptocurrency to set up fake apps to steal hundreds of thousands of dollars from would-be Australian crypto investors.




					www.abc.net.au


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## The Triangle (18 March 2022)

Surprised a government agency is _actually _doing something here...About time.  Or Is it only because twiggy got upset and told them to act?   I have noticed lately (past 2 months) on youtube and free news sites that cypto 'scam/investment' adverts have dropped off a cliff.  I know several people who were getting the crypto phone calls and they have stopped too.  









						‘World first’: ACCC sues Meta over misleading Facebook crypto scam ads
					

The ads used photographs of leading Australians such as Fortescue boss Andrew Forrest and former NSW premier Mike Baird to lure in victims without the public figures’ permission.




					www.afr.com


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## basilio (30 May 2022)

Just watched 4 Corners program on Crypto currency.  
Really compelling stuff. Highlighted  a number of  critical points

1) *Absolutely no underlying value to Crypto currency. * It's value lies in how much one can persuade other people to buy it. That's  a Ponzi scheme

2) *The exponential use of of crypto currency by  crime organizations.* This is now the way to move billions of crime dollars around the world with no tracking until it comes out freshly laundered

3)* Again the exponential use of crypto currency in cyber attacks notably ransom ware. *This was explored in the program when a private school in NSW was brought to its knees in a Ransom ware attack in November  2020.  Currently much Ransom ware attacks come from Russian based organizations.  In teh current political climate we can expect even more attacks.

The analysis by security and investment advisers was equally scathing.  Well worth checking out IMV.









						Dogecoin has little real-world function, yet its value reached $US89 billion. Until it began to unravel
					

Crypto has made some investors overnight millionaires but for others it's a fad propped up by celebrity endorsements. Four Corners investigated the hype.




					www.abc.net.au


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## basilio (30 May 2022)

This story highlights the dangers of cyber attacks, *which are overwhelmingly  successful becasue of crypto currency,*  to our economy.

JBS Foods cyber attack highlights industry vulnerabilities to Russian hackers​ABC Rural
 / By Angus Mackintosh
Posted 4h ago4 hours ago


 A security boss says a cyber attack on the food industry would lead to empty supermarket shelves.(ABC News: Matthew Garrick)
Help keep family & friends informed by sharing this article

Australia's food supply is uniquely vulnerable to cyber attacks, the director of a national cybersecurity firm warns, as he calls for the industry to raise its standards on the anniversary of the JBS ransomware hack.
Key points:​
The head of a national cybersecurity firm warns Australia's food supply is uniquely vulnerable to hacking and pandemic-scale shutdowns
The food industry was added to the Commonwealth list of critical industries after a successful attack on Australia's biggest meat company
The Five Eyes security alliance says Russian-backed hackers are targeting countries helping Ukraine

JBS Foods, the world's biggest meat processor, was held ransom by Russian-based hackers for $US11 million last year.
The cyber attack shut down the company's global operations for five days, including multiple Australian abattoirs.
Claroty Australian regional director Lani Refiti said Australia's entire food and drink supply chain was "uniquely vulnerable" to further attacks.
"It is happening," Mr Refiti said.

"It's not a matter of 'if' a major attack will happen to the Australian food and beverage sector, it's a matter of 'when'."
He said there would be food shortages if there was another incident like JBS.
Laws were passed months after the JBS hack to list food and beverage as a critical national industry.









						Major supermarkets 'uniquely vulnerable' as Russian cyber attacks rise
					

The head of a national cybersecurity firm warns it's not a matter of "if" but "when" major supermarkets or distributors are targeted by Russia-backed hackers, risking shortages on grocery store shelves.




					www.abc.net.au


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## basilio (10 August 2022)

​ 
   How crypto giant Binance became a hub for hackers, fraudsters and drug traffickers              ​ 
For five years, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange Binance served as a conduit for the laundering of at least $2.35 billion in illicit funds, a Reuters investigation has found.









						How Binance became a hub for hackers, fraudsters and drug sellers
					

For five years, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange Binance served as a conduit for the laundering of at least $2.35 billion in illicit funds.




					www.reuters.com


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## Garpal Gumnut (10 August 2022)

basilio said:


> ​
> How crypto giant Binance became a hub for hackers, fraudsters and drug traffickers              ​
> For five years, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange Binance served as a conduit for the laundering of at least $2.35 billion in illicit funds, a Reuters investigation has found.
> 
> ...



That, frankly, shocks me. 

I would have thought Crypto and their Exchanges would have been the safest places to park my cigar money. 

gg


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## bux2000 (10 August 2022)

Garpal Gumnut said:


> would have thought Crypto and their Exchanges would have been the safest places to park my cigar money.




 Not to worry Garpal, you would still have the box they came in.   

bux


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## noirua (13 September 2022)

Aussies already lost $242M to investment and crypto scams in 2022
					

The significant losses by Aussies to crypto and investment scams have led to a push for banks to shoulder more responsibility “in stopping fraud.”




					cointelegraph.com
				



People over 55 and under 64 years of age represent the largest age bracket who have fallen prey to scams.


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## qldfrog (13 September 2022)

noirua said:


> Aussies already lost $242M to investment and crypto scams in 2022
> 
> 
> The significant losses by Aussies to crypto and investment scams have led to a push for banks to shoulder more responsibility “in stopping fraud.”
> ...



They have missed on the Boomer's real estate and market decades of easy win,see retirement ahead or at least can not dream anymore..so they know what they will not get..resulting in a gambler all or nothing play
Even scammed, they still cling to this and if this was true,and for the ladies, and if this gorgeous rich handsome qantas pilot was really interested in my flabby overweight body as i have such nice eyes,  conversation or knitting skills.
Maybe slightly autobiographical for the first part as i still play the market. And reaching that age range


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## noirua (13 September 2022)

qldfrog said:


> They have missed on the Boomer's real estate and market decades of easy win,see retirement ahead or at least can not dream anymore..so they know what they will not get..resulting in a gambler all or nothing play
> Even scammed, they still cling to this and if this was true,and for the ladies, and if this gorgeous rich handsome qantas pilot was really interested in my flabby overweight body as i have such nice eyes,  conversation or knitting skills.
> Maybe slightly autobiographical for the first part as i still play the market. And reaching that age range



These scammers/ fraudsters are getting more organised and it is thought some get information from people working in banks, government departments and other institutions.  So they will have all the information supplied to hand and maybe the persons history going way back. In one case it was a number of people actually working at one branch of the Halifax (part of Lloyds Bank) in the UK. - they were caught eventually but not before they'd bankrupted a number of small companies.








						Noel Edmonds agrees deal with Lloyds over bank fraud case
					

A Thames Valley Police investigation relating to Edmonds' Unique Group and the HBOS fraud is still going on.




					news.sky.com
				




It was thought that Marcus Agrippa said to Emperor Claudius, 'Trust no one my friend trust no one...'.  Claudius forgot to not trust Agrippa a childhood friend.
The result was all Jews were thrown out of Rome and many executed. From this followed two thousand years of persecution of the Jews. There were other reasons but King Herod's following of Jewish Orthodoxy angered Emperor Claudius. 

Herod Agrippa I, original name Marcus Julius Agrippa, (born c. 10 bce—died 44 ce), *king of Judaea* (41–44 ce), a clever diplomat who through his friendship with the Roman imperial family obtained the kingdom of his grandfather, Herod I the Great. He displayed great acumen in conciliating the Romans and Jews.
After becoming Emperor, Claudius gave Agrippa dominion over Judea and Samaria and granted him the ornamenta consularia, and, at his request, gave the kingdom of Chalcis in Lebanon to Agrippa's brother Herod of Chalcis. Thus Agrippa became one of the most powerful kings of the east.
In Judaea, Agrippa *zealously pursued orthodox Jewish policies*, earning the friendship of the Jews and vigorously repressing the Jewish Christians. According to the New Testament of the Bible (Acts of the Apostles, where he is called Herod), he imprisoned Peter the Apostle and executed James, son of Zebedee.








						Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa - Wikipedia
					






					en.wikipedia.org
				











						Claudius - Wikipedia
					






					en.wikipedia.org


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## qldfrog (13 September 2022)

And the fact these outsourced call centers where genuine employees of banks etc are in Bangladesh and dirt poor countries, able to get your userid password.secret questions etc..
I mean how naive are we..I would perfectly understand them, how big is really 10k for you, but this could be life and death for them, a child etc
Worse, i read horrendous reports on Chinese triads kidnapping philipinos burmeses and locking them in a house forced 12h a day to  calling fellow richer compatriots or some westerners to scam them.
So the actual guy trying to scam you could be a victim too...


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## Dona Ferentes (20 September 2022)

_From the AFR:_

Mark Carnegie, Australia’s highest-profile cryptocurrency investor, said a 31-year-old South Korean entrepreneur who started the now-collapsed Terraform Labs cryptocurrency business and may be on the run from authorities was “just another one of these super-bright scumbags” who did not understand business history.

Mr Carnegie, the founder of MHC Digital Finance, said he invested in Do Kwon’s luna cryptocurrency, which fell from $120 in April to 0.05¢. Simultaneous falls of another cryptocurrency connected to luna, terraUSD, contributed to a global rout in blockchain assets this year.



> “We owned some luna,” Mr Carnegie said from Singapore, where he lives. “We net ended up square or maybe down a bit. With a *Ponzi* scheme you are trying to get in and out early."




.... _I'm finding it very hard to understand if there's any difference in character between the two mentioned. 
PS love that low tax regime , eh? _


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## Miner (23 October 2022)

I searched for Crypto on ASF and found this thread. The last posting was a rare one about a year back from none but our @Joe Blow.
Hoping some of you would be on crypto (I am yet to be after missing the opportunity to get into BTC back in 2017, thinking it was all but a scam.
Anyway long story short: does anyone know this person Michael Allision? A Crypto Trader who apparently is only happy with a 15%  commission on the profits you earn but he takes control of your account if you are unable to spend time while using his trading system. His Instagram picture comes with a flashy car. Michael is an Australian settled in the USA. Too prompt in following up queries and that begs me the question if someone makes multi-millions why he or she operates on a Gmail Account, so keen to help others with a 15% only profit share?
Whatsapp no is also shared.
There are a few like this when I researched.
Has anyone dealt with him or similar traders?
How legitimate these people are?

https://www.instagram.com/tradewithmichaelson_/?hl=en


			https://twitter.com/harriso18494222?lang=en
		

Video from Buffaet - 10 months back 
Some of the profile pictures of Michael Allison

very flashy points with sun glasses and gym fit figure for sure



			Michael Allison crypto trader - Google Search


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## Joe Blow (23 October 2022)

Miner said:


> Anyway long story short: does anyone know this person Michael Allision? A Crypto Trader who apparently is only happy with a 15%  commission on the profits you earn but he takes control of your account if you are unable to spend time while using his trading system. His Instagram picture comes with a flashy car. Michael is an Australian settled in the USA. Too prompt in following up queries and that begs me the question if someone makes multi-millions why he or she operates on a Gmail Account, so keen to help others with a 15% only profit share?
> Whatsapp no is also shared.
> There are a few like this when I researched.
> Has anyone dealt with him or similar traders?
> ...





This is a scam, probably run out of Nigeria. Don't go near it.


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## Miner (23 October 2022)

Joe Blow said:


> This is a scam, probably run out of Nigeria. Don't go near it.



Thanks Joe.
Michael does use a USA no +1 631 518 xxxx. But with Whatsapp, anyone can use the US no and operate from Nigeria and alike.
I often get calls using Brisbane no when the calls are originated from outside Australia. Our half of energy is to detect frauds due to developed technology.


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## Joe Blow (23 October 2022)

Miner said:


> Thanks Joe.
> Michael does use a USA no +1 631 518 xxxx. But with Whatsapp, anyone can use the US no and operate from Nigeria and alike.
> I often get calls using Brisbane no when the calls are originated from outside Australia. Our half of energy is to detect frauds due to developed technology.




It's easy to get an international phone number these days. Here's an article showing Nigerians how to get a US phone number. Be careful out there. The internet is filled with predators.


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## Miner (23 October 2022)

Joe Blow said:


> It's easy to get an international phone number these days. Here's an article showing Nigerians how to get a US phone number. Be careful out there. The internet is filled with predators.



Gees @Joe Blow 
You are a hidden treasure. that's awesome and thanks a lot.


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