As cryptocurrencies become popular and evolve, so does crime related to cryptocurrencies. Latest reports from Kaspersky Lab report that crypto-scammers have amassed $2.3 Million in the second quarter of 2018. This is an alarming statistic and regulators around the world need to be more alert and work towards the common goal of reducing these numbers and eliminating scam.
In their “spam and phishing Q2 2018 report”, Kaspersky Lab stated that they have prevented close to 60,000 attempts from cyber criminals of ensnaring users into fake web pages which look like popular crypto-sites but the users end up giving the hackers their password. Some hackers even tricked the users into investing into fake ICOs. While many people dismiss phishing attacks as a relic of the internet’s past, they continue to be quite effective even today – as evident by the $2.3 Million stolen by criminals.
In a news release from Kaspersky Labs, Nadezhda Demidova, lead web content analyst for Kaspersky, wrote:
“The permanence of attacks targeting financial organizations reflects the fact that more and more people are using electronic money. Still, not all of them are sufficiently aware of the possible risks, so intruders are actively trying to steal sensitive information through phishing.”
Another interesting tidbit from the report is that South America and Asia are two of the biggest regions where such crimes are happening. Brazil topped this list with 15.51% of phishing attacks happening in Q2 2018, China and Georgia stood second at 14.44% of the attacks, up next were Kyrgyzstan and Russia.
Those reading between the lines would see that the impact of watchdog agencies such as the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of the US, as well as the Financial Services Association (FSA) of Japan is clearly visible and these two nations are relatively secure. This report from Kaspersky Lab is a prime example as to why these organizations are necessary and how their vigilant presence can help keep their citizens secure from scam.
