The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) announced today that it has removed 615 cryptocurrency investment scams in the past year as part of a broader crackdown on investment fraud. Since July 2023, the commission has shut down more than 7,300 scam websites, 615 of which were related to cryptocurrencies.
The regulator cited a report from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission that investment scams caused losses of approximately A$1.3 billion in 2023. Sarah Court, deputy chair of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, said in a statement: "Australians still lose billions of dollars to scams every year. Scammers are criminals who target hardworking Australians - they are indiscriminate and use sophisticated techniques to steal information and money." (The Block)