The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) issued a warning to crypto traders last week about scammers who steal funds by posing as exchange employees.
The FBI notes that these fraudsters will contact victims and pretend there are problems with their exchange accounts.
The scammers, acting like exchange employees, will stress urgency, often claiming a hacker is trying to compromise the victim’s account, in a bid to convince the victim to provide personal information to “protect” their funds.
The FBI encourages traders to never provide their account log-in information to anyone who asks for it.
“If you receive a call or message indicating any kind of account problem or compromise, do not respond, even if it appears official and indicates you must act immediately.
Hang up. Call the cryptocurrency exchange’s official phone number to verify if there is a problem. Do not use any phone number the caller provides.
Do not go to any websites or click on links the caller sends you. Navigate to the official cryptocurrency exchange website separately.”
The FBI asks that victims report activity associated with this type of scam to the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3), a cybercrime reporting hub.
The law enforcement agency also encourages crypto traders to be wary of digital asset recovery scams. Just last week, the Manhattan District Attorney filed criminal charges against a man who operated a purported crypto asset recovery business that allegedly defrauded dozens of people.
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