In an alert that has echoed through the corridors of American cybersecurity, the FBI’s Portland Division has issued a stark warning against a new wave of fraudsters. These scammers audaciously impersonate FBI agents, along with other government officials, and are targeting unsuspecting individuals with demands for money—be it cash, gold, or increasingly, cryptocurrency.
The warning comes amidst a worrying uptrend in these schemes, with the federal law enforcement agency underscoring a crucial fact: legitimate federal agencies will never make unsolicited calls or emails threatening arrest or demanding payments.
Scammers are upping the ante, utilizing intimidation tactics to coerce quick payments from victims. They have a preference for methods that are difficult to trace or reverse, including prepaid cards, wire transfers, and intriguingly, cryptocurrency ATMs—a nod to the growing entanglement of digital currencies in fraudulent activities.
In 2023 alone, the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) unveiled distressing figures: 14,190 victims with an aggregate loss soaring past $394 million. A closer look at the data shows the Portland Division grappling with over $1.7 million siphoned away by these nefarious actors.
The targets of these scams are not random. Older adults, and particularly those over the age of 60, find themselves in the crosshairs, representing a staggering 58% of national losses to these scams, a sum that nears $770 million. Such findings raise alarms about the vulnerability of this demographic and the importance of heightened safeguards.
Bitcoin.com, since 2015, has positioned itself as a bastion for cryptocurrency newbies, offering resources designed to demystify the sector. Its educational resources, combined with objective news reporting and an array of self-custodial products, aim to shore up the defenses of prospective targets against such scams.
As the allure of cryptocurrency continues to capture the collective imagination, the FBI’s warning serves as a sobering reminder of the flip side to the digital currency revolution: a new playing field for age-old crimes. Where anonymity reigns, vigilance must follow close behind, with governmental agencies and cryptocurrency platforms alike playing pivotal roles in the fight against fraud.
