Australia’s financial markets regulator says it has taken down over 600 crypto scams in the last 12 months, warning that artificial intelligence and crypto fraudsters are constantly updating their tactics to “lure consumers.”
In an Aug. 19 statement, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) revealed since July 2023, it has taken down over 5,530 fake investment platforms, 1,065 phishing hyperlinks and 615 cryptocurrency investment scams.
ASIC Deputy Chair Sarah Court shared particular concern about deepfakes and other AI-generated images — which she suggests have made it more difficult for the average person to detect fraud.
“The scams landscape is rapidly evolving. Innovative technology developments may improve how we live and work, however, they also provide new opportunities for scammers to exploit,” she said.
She noted that an average of 20 investment scam websites are taken down each day on average and that these scams remain the leading type driving losses for Australians, with $1.3 billion in losses for 2023.
“Fake celebrity endorsements, including from people such as Chris Hemsworth and Elon Musk, are used in these scams to entice consumers to enter into investments with low initial costs and unrealistic returns,” ASIC said.
“Ask yourself if you really know what you are investing in. Scammers can create fake news and reviews to make an investment seem legitimate.”
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Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s voice and likeness are among the most popular choices for AI crypto scammers. On June 6, over 35 YouTube channels live-streamed an AI-generated fake voice of Musk promising to return double the amount of crypto for those who deposited in the scheme.
Bitcoin consulting firm, The Bitcoin Way, reported another version of an AI scam using his voice on July 27.
ASIC said it found a suspicious crypto investment firm known as Dexa Trade Markets in July, which falsely claimed to be internationally regulated, have billions in trading volume, and have millions of investors signed up.
In its investor alert listing, ASIC said Dexa Trade Markets does not hold any appropriate licenses to operate in Australia.
Some say AI might help protect us too
But some suggest AI might be the solution to prevent a lot of scams too.
In January, SingularityNET CEO Ben Goertze suggested AI could also be the answer to stopping crypto scams by creating customized summaries of crypto entities’ reputations using raw data and reports from many different sources.
While he admitted he does not believe these features will prevent all instances of crypto scams, he says it could at least alert customers to the numerous red flags observable in an easily digestible format.
Meanwhile, fake crypto ads have been a hot topic recently. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) recently claimed that over half of crypto ads on Facebook are either scams or violate Meta’s policies, citing preliminary research.
Facebook’s parent company, Meta, has denied these claims, arguing that the data is outdated and that it has since taken steps to address these issues.
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