FBI warns of rise in crypto scams on LinkedIn

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Federal Bureau Special AgentUS Investigations, working for offices in the cities of San Francisco and Sacramento, California, reported increasing cases of crypto-crimes on social networks.

Sean Ragan said
CNBC said that crypto scammers pose a particularly serious threat to LinkedIn, where “there are already many victims and potential victims.”

An FBI agent explained how they operatecrypto scammers. Usually the scammer poses as a professional investor. After meeting the victim online, he proceeds to offer to make money by investing in cryptocurrencies. Communication can last for months. Having gained the trust of a LinkedIn user, the criminal convinces the victim to invest money in a resource he controls, and then empties the user’s wallet.

According to the FBI, losses from fraud inThe LinkedIn of one victim can reach from $200,000 to $1.6 million. Agent Ragan assured that the Bureau is actively investigating, but cannot yet comment on unsolved cases.

The LinkedIn team has officially admitted that there has been a recent uptick in scams on its platform:

"We work every day to ensuresafety of our users. We have automated and customized protections, tools to detect and eliminate fake accounts and false information, and effective fraud prevention methods.”

Although LinkedIn is not ready to assess whetherhow much money was stolen from users of the platform, representatives of the social network say that in 2021 they deleted more than 32 million fake accounts. The FBI clarifies that most crypto scammers work from accounts registered in Southeast Asia.

In March, the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) proposed a worldwide ban on social media content promoting investment activity in cryptocurrencies.