The FBI says in just 12 months, scumbags stole circa $10 million from victims of crypto scams after posing as helpful lawyers offering to recover their lost tokens. Between February 2023-2024, scammers were kicking US victims while they were already down, preying on their financial vulnerability to defraud them for a second time in what must be seen as a new low, even for that particular breed of dirtball. It's the latest update from the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) on the ongoing issue which was first publicized in August last year.
The Reg heard there was a rise in these fake companies cropping up, which claim to help recover stolen crypto in exchange for fees that would never be returned, but this is the first time IC3 has put a monetary value to the crime. These "law firms" contact victims on social media and messaging platforms, IC3 said , all claiming to have the proper authority to carry out successful fraud investigations, when in fact they have no business serving seizure orders to the likes of cryptocurrency companies. In some cases, the scammers try to claim they're working with the FBI, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), or some other kind of US government agency or financial institution to add a whiff of legitimacy to the proceedings.
Alarm bells should be going off here, especially if some kind of government investigation team is actually charging victims for their services. Various cases seen by the real law enforcement authorities have.
