Tesla CEO Elon Musk Scam
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission said that US $2 million was stolen from cryptocurrency investors by fraudsters impersonating Tesla CEO Elon Musk. Musk is a proponent of currencies like bitcoin and dogecoin. A giveaway scam contacted potential victims with an opportunity to quickly “multiply” investments, asking them to convert dollars into cryptocurrencies, only to keep the money for themselves. This comes one year after scammers targeted Twitter, hacking into celebrity accounts (including Musk’s) in a similar fraud that netted US$121,000.
Fraudulent Agency
A man residing in Mississauga, Ont., invested $4,000 in crypto which turned a quick profit – so it appeared. The man found this crypto trading agency online and continued to invest. Unfortunately, when it came time to cash out, the agency kept making excuses and asked for more and more money to release the funds. “They would just put up roadblocks, left, right and centre,” the man said. “In order to get my money back, it cost me money.” All told, the man reportedly lost $200,000. This agency turned out to be fraudulent.
Phone calls and WhatsApp messaged continuously appeared on this mans phone, including one that read: “It’s a scam, don’t send any more money.” The man was promised he would get all of his funds back—if he would transfer another $500.
Cryptocurrency Apps
The British cybersecurity firm ‘Sophos’ discovered that counterfeit trading and cryptocurrency apps were traced to a single server as part of a fraud. Scammers tricked users into downloading apps via a replica iOS App Store page. Victims then downloaded replica apps and as a result, lost their money. “The fake applications we uncovered impersonate popular and trusted financial apps from all over the world,” stated a Sophos senior researcher in a release. Sophos reported that, when an individual would try to withdraw their money, scammers locked them out of their accounts.
Ways to Prevent Fraud
Read about the CPA Canada 2021 Fraud Study. Research tips about how to prevent fraud and to find out which fraud trends are common.
This article was originally sourced by CPA.
