Australia hit by new crypto scam tactic: criminals file fake reports to mimic police

• They impersonate police officers and reference official government websites.
• Victims are falsely told they are involved in crypto-related investigations.
• The AFP warns that real officers will never ask for access to wallets or accounts.

Australia is facing a sophisticated wave of cryptocurrency scams involving fake law enforcement operations.

The Australian Federal Police (AFP) confirmed that scammers are impersonating officers and referencing fake cybercrime reports to trick individuals into transferring digital funds.

The fraud is marked by its strategic abuse of a legitimate online government portal, ReportCyber, which is supposed to help citizens report cybercrime.

The scammers exploit this official system to lodge false reports about targeted individuals.

Once the fabricated report is in place, they contact the victims directly, posing as police and referencing the bogus case to gain credibility.

They often guide victims to real government websites to review the reports, which makes the entire setup appear authentic.

Exploiting official systems for crypto fraud

This method takes advantage of the public’s trust in state infrastructure. Scammers are no longer relying solely on unsolicited messages or fraudulent links.

They are using actual government services to build elaborate layers of deception.

The goal is to make their claims seem verifiable, luring unsuspecting users into a false sense of security before attempting to extract their digital assets.

In a recent incident reported by the AFP, a scammer lodged a fake complaint on ReportCyber against a target. Shortly afterwards, the victim was contacted by someone claiming to be a police officer.

The caller explained that the victim was connected to a criminal case involving cryptocurrency. The victim was told to expect a second call from a representative of a crypto company who would confirm the story.

The second individual, also a fraudster, attempted to persuade the target to move their assets from one crypto wallet to another. The wallet address provided belonged to the scammers.

Fortunately, the target detected inconsistencies in the communication and terminated the call before completing the transfer.

Police procedures mimicked to perfection

AFP officials revealed that the tactics used in these scams closely mirror genuine law enforcement procedures.

Criminals involved in these scams fabricate stories about arrests, link victims to ongoing investigations, and imitate the language and steps used in real investigations.

This level of detail makes it difficult for victims to differentiate between legitimate contact and a scam.

The scams are structured in a way that allows attackers to escalate their approach using multiple actors.

First, a police impersonator initiates the contact.

Then a second person claims to represent a cryptocurrency firm. Both characters support the same fabricated narrative and provide false verification documents to solidify their credibility.

The AFP urged Australians to exercise caution. If anyone is contacted about a ReportCyber submission they did not make or authorise, they should disconnect the call and notify authorities directly.

Real officers will never ask for access to your crypto wallet, bank accounts, or sensitive financial information such as seed phrases.

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