FBI releases warning about fake crypto job advertisements
The fake job advertisements have lured prospective employees to foreign countries, forcing participation in cryptocurrency fraud schemes.
The United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has warned citizens about a new scam crypto job advertisement in circulation.
On May 22, the FBI issued a warning, saying U.S. citizens and individuals living or traveling abroad should be aware of false job advertisements linked to labor trafficking.
According to the advert, victims have been “held against their will, intimidated, and forced to commit international cryptocurrency investment fraud schemes.”
The warning continues by saying victims have been primarily targeted in Asia and are offered a wide range of opportunities, including technical support, call center customer service, and beauty salon technicians. However, upon arrival in a foreign country, job seekers are “coerced” into committing cryptocurrency investment schemes.
The FBI has asked victims of such schemes to come forward and report the activity through an online portal.
The FBI has been involved in numerous cases involving cryptocurrency scams and crypto-related incidents in recent years.
Most recently, on May 1, the Detroit field office of the FBI and the National Police of Ukraine “conducted coordinated, court-authorized activity,” which concluded with the seizure and shutting down of nine digital currency exchange services.
The domains were allegedly aiding cybercriminals and included 24xbtc.com, 100btc.pro, pridechange.com, trust-exchange.org and bitcoin24.exchange, among others.
On April 30, crypto security and auditing firm CertiK released a round-up of April’s crypto exploits and scams, revealing a loss of $103.7 million. The amount lost in April equaled half of all crypto exploited in 2023.
Around that same time, the prominent YouTube channel DidYouKnowGaming was the victim of an ongoing hack that promoted cryptocurrency scams.