Fighting Cryptocurrency and AI Fraud
Date: 2025-01-07 Author: Oliver Abernathy Categories: IN WORLD
On January 5, 2025, Vietnamese police arrested four people who organized a cryptocurrency mining scam. The group targeted more than 200 people, who lost about 4 billion Vietnamese dong (approximately 157 thousand US dollars). According to information provided by the VnExpress newspaper, the scammers created a website called BitMiner with a domain registered in Singapore and presented themselves as a company based in Dubai. The site offered investment packages promising unrealistically high profits, as well as “educational materials” for potential investors.
In the United States, the Springfield Police Department in Massachusetts also expressed concern about the rise in cryptocurrency scams, especially in the context of cryptocurrency ATMs. In their warnings, the police emphasized that criminals often use such devices to transfer funds directly to the fraudsters' accounts. Specific recommendations include ignoring phone calls demanding that money be transferred through crypto ATMs.
Not limited to cryptocurrency scams, law enforcement agencies are also actively pursuing crimes related to artificial intelligence and deepfakes. Thus, on January 5, 2025, Hong Kong police arrested a group of 31 scammers, including mostly university students, who used deepfakes to deceive victims around the world. Using AI-powered face swapping technologies, the criminals created fake videos and photos to gain the trust of victims and draw them into romantic scams. As a result, the criminals enriched themselves by 34 million Hong Kong dollars (about 4.37 million US dollars).
According to Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK), the scheme had been going on for over a year, with victims from countries including Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, and the United States. The investigation involved raids at two locations, from which cash, bags, and expensive watches worth HK$10 million were seized.
As such, combating cryptocurrency and AI fraud remains a pressing issue for law enforcement agencies around the world.
