Australian regulators shut down nearly a hundred crypto scam companies
Date: 2025-04-09 Author: Gabriel Deangelo Categories: IN WORLD
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has carried out a major purge of the crypto market, shutting down 95 suspicious organizations. Some of them, as it turned out, were registered using stolen personal data, which gave the fraudsters the opportunity to act on behalf of unsuspecting citizens.
The main method of deception was a scheme known as "pig butchering". Criminals first established a trusting, often romantic relationship with victims, after which they convinced them to invest money in supposedly high-yield crypto investments. People believed that they were participating in margin trading or trading crypto derivatives through licensed platforms. In fact, these were fake services that imitated well-known crypto exchanges but had nothing to do with them.
The money that investors transferred to these platforms actually went to accounts completely controlled by the attackers. Thus, all investments went straight into the hands of scammers.
ASIC regularly blocks about 130 fraudulent sites weekly. Since the beginning of the operation, the regulator has already closed over 10,000 resources, including 7,227 fake investment platforms, 1,564 phishing links and 1,257 cryptocurrency-related schemes.
ASIC Deputy Chair Sarah Court emphasized that fraudsters use any possible means to gain access to users' money and personal information. She compared them to the mythical hydra - having destroyed one fraudster, two new ones appear in his place. This is why the regulator urges citizens to remain extremely careful in any transactions related to investments in cryptocurrencies.
In addition, in early April, Australian authorities launched a major audit of cryptomats. Companies operating these devices were warned that they face serious legal consequences if they fail to comply with anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing (AML) regulations.
