FBI Warns of Increasing Work-From-Home Crypto Scams Amid Rising Remote Work Trend
Summary:
The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) warns against a rising trend of work-from-home job scams involving cryptocurrency payments. Fraudsters lure victims with easy job offers and fake income interfaces, convincing them to make cryptocurrency payments to unlock more work. The FBI emphasized signs of scams and attributed the rise to the growing trend of remote working. The report follows earlier FBI data indicating substantial growth in crypto-related fraud in the nation in 2023.
Beware of job offers stating you need to pay in cryptocurrency to obtain employment, especially for a home-based position. This is a warning issued by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in America, indicating that this might be another hoax. On June 4, they cautioned about the increasing number of work-from-home job scam advertisements, where fraudsters contact unsuspecting individuals via unsolicited communication, promising an easy job such as reviewing eateries or improving a service via repetitive clicks. Victims might be deceived into thinking they are making money since the swindlers guide them to an imitation interface showing them generating income that they, unfortunately, will never be able to withdraw. The deception becomes clear when the victim is instructed to send cryptocurrency to the supposed employer to access more work opportunities, with the payment going straight into the fraudster's pocket. The FBI has highlighted several telltale signs of this type of scam, such as overuse of the term 'optimization' in job descriptions and no request for references during the hiring process. Given the rising trend of remote working, it's unsurprising that more individuals are falling for these fraudulent tricks. Statista data indicates that the global remote workforce increased to 28% by the end of 2023. Remote workers enjoy the flexibility to choose their work base. Dominic Frei, a Bali-based crypto consultant, revealed in an interview with Cointelegraph Magazine how he moved his family from Switzerland to Bali for a better lifestyle and environment. The warning follows the FBI's release of figures earlier this year, highlighting the extent of cryptocurrency-related fraud across the country in 2023. A Cointelegraph report dated March 9 cited FBI data showing that losses from crypto investments escalated from $2.57 billion in 2022 to roughly $3.94 billion in 2023, a 53% hike. Online romance scams involving crypto are a common fraud, whereby the criminal assumes a false identity to gain the victim's faith and affection, persuades the victim to transfer cryptocurrency, and then disappears.
Published At
6/6/2024 9:29:48 AM
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