Australian Crypto Wallets Compromised: Millions Stolen in Major Fraud
Recently, the Australian Federal Police revealed that malicious attackers had compromised thousands of Australian cryptocurrency wallets, resulting in the theft of millions of dollars in digital assets. This discovery was made as part of Operation Spincaster, a global cryptocurrency fraud prevention program led by Chainalysis.
More than 2,000 Australian cryptocurrency wallets leaked
On August 4, the Australian Financial Review reported that over 2,000 cryptocurrency wallets in Australia had been compromised due to authorized phishing scams. These scams involved tricking victims into authorizing unauthorized transfers of tokens. Operation Spincaster, which spanned across six countries, including the US, UK, Canada, Spain, the Netherlands, and Australia, revealed the extensive scale of this fraud. The investigation uncovered more than 7,000 leads and resulted in approximately $162 million in damages.
In Australia, the Joint Police Cybercrime Coordination Center (JPC3) played a vital role in supporting investigations into cryptocurrency theft. Detective Superintendent Tim Stanton of the Australian Federal Police emphasized the importance of the operation in combating cybercriminal threats.
“The information we collected through Operation Spincaster clearly reveals the new methods cybercriminals continue to use to defraud Australians and is at the heart of our ongoing investigation to identify cybercrime victims and disrupt Australia’s Criminals,” Stanton stated.
Learn more: 9 Crypto Wallet Security Tips to Protect Your Assets
Experts have highlighted that phishing scams remain a significant threat to the cryptocurrency industry. These attacks involve impersonating legitimate organizations to steal sensitive information and gain access to victims’ wallets. According to Scam Sniffer, more than 260,000 individuals lost $314 million to phishing scams in the first half of this year.
Crypto.com User Jailed for Misappropriating Funds
In a separate incident, Australian prosecutors sentenced a Crypto.com user for misappropriating funds. The individual received an accidental transfer of AUD 10.47 million instead of a refund of AUD 100 from the cryptocurrency exchange in May 2021. As a result of entering the wrong account number, the couple used some of the funds before the error was discovered. Prosectors have managed to recover approximately $4.9 million and are seeking jail time due to the substantial amount involved.
These incidents underscore the growing trend of cryptocurrency-related crimes in Australia. A recent report from the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Center (AUSTRAC) highlighted the increasing use of cryptocurrency in criminal activities within the country.
Read more: 10 Essential Tips for Cryptocurrency Security
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