In Brief:
- Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) warned about the rise in bogus investment schemes.
- Bitcoin-related investment scams are also surging day by day
As per the source, Australian citizens lost nearly $70 million in bogus investments schemes at the end of the first half of 2021.
Scamwatch had received 4,763 reports in the first six months of 2021. This number shows a 53.4% surge number of scams as compare to last year. In 2020, Scamwacth had reported 3,104 scams in H1.
Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), an economic regulatory in Australia circulated a report regarding the bogus investment opportunities in the country and warn their citizens about the increasing rate of scams.
Moreover, ACCC is predicting the losses due to fraudulent scams could be $140 million by the end of this year. It is alarming for a government that cryptocurrency scams accounted for more than 50% in H1.
“Investment scams are more prevalent than ever, and scammers are capitalizing on interest in cryptocurrency in particular,” ACCC Deputy Chair Delia Rickard said. “More than half of the $70 million in losses were to cryptocurrency, especially through Bitcoin, and cryptocurrency scams were also the most commonly reported type of investment scam, with 2,240 reports.”
“Be wary of investment opportunities with low risk and high returns. If something sounds too good to be true, it probably is,” Rickard added.
Bitcoin-related investment scams have been increasing day by day in Australia. Citizens of Australia have become victims of BTC investment scams worth $26 million in H1of 2021 as compared to $17.8 million in the entire 2020.
Ponzi Schemes
There are many other Ponzi schemes and imposter bond scams, In which Australian Citizens are losing their capital. “These scams used advertising on social media sites and had their applications available via official app stores. People invested their money and were able to make small withdrawals in the beginning before the scammers cut off contact,” ACCC mentioned in the report.
Also Read: ASIC Issues a Warning Against the Unlicensed Crypto Businesses
Mobile apps and Social networking websites are responsible for around 40% of all investment scams.
