$13.7 million: Atlas VPN adds up the impact of the top 10 most successful blockchain scams

2 years ago 283

A new report finds that fake investment scams have netted the most funds among all the types of active blockchain scams.

If you have been swindled by a blockchain con, the most likely culprit is a fake investment scam, according to an analysis by Atlas VPN. The top 10 most successful currently active blockchain scams have collected $13.7 million so far, the report found.

CryptoMixer.com, a fake Bitcoin tumbler, is the biggest known active blockchain scam in terms of funds collected. This scam has collected 167 payments adding up to $2.5 million.

The InternationalGlobalPay.com scam has earned $2.3 million and the third most successful con is occupied by malware linked to a fake wallet app. This lure cost people a total of $1.9 million.

The analysis found that fake investment scams have attracted the most funds among all the active scams. This category has collected over $8 million, which is 60% of the total amount of money lost to the top 10 scams.

The complete list looks like this:

Cryptomixer.com
InternationalGlobalPay.com
Malware in the form of a fake wallet app
ExpertDreamTrade.com
FXExchangeHub.com
Malware linked to Electrum scam
InstawalletPay.com
AllbrightFinancialFX.com
TradersAccolate.com
Finexgen.com

Atlas VPN based this report on data from ScamAlert. This service tracks 81,398 scams at scam-alert.io.

BitcoinAbuse tracks recently reported addresses used by hackers and scammers. There are 100 addresses all from a single day on the first of 2,316 pages of suspect addresses. The site states that there have been 194 reports in the last day, 1,244 reports in the last week and 4,325 reports in the last month. The website relies on volunteers to report these bad actors to "help others see they are not alone." One FAQ states that "Many people are getting the exact same spam emails and they are all phoney, hopefully by sharing this information fewer people will fall for these scams."

SEE: 9 things to know about cryptocurrency such as Cardano, Binancecoin and Ethereum (TechRepublic)

Risk is inherent in all financial investments, and cryptocurrencies have all the risks of a new technology platform as well. Robinhood describes the many risks this way: "Trading in cryptocurrencies comes with significant risks, including volatile market price swings or flash crashes, market manipulation, and cybersecurity risks. In addition, cryptocurrency markets and exchanges are not regulated with the same controls or customer protections available in equity, option, futures, or foreign exchange investing."

As a post on National Law Review explains, "even legitimate cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum are frequently used for unlawful ends." That is one reason the IRS and governments around the world have started to put more rules in place for cryptocurrency to limit fraud and abuse.

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