Cryptocurrency scammers in Australia have reached a new level of sophistication, impersonating Australian Federal Police (AFP) officers and exploiting a government cybercrime reporting platform, ReportCyber, to lend dangerous legitimacy to their schemes, authorities warned on Thursday.
The AFP has highlighted a concerning trend where bad actors leverage official government infrastructure to pressure victims into handing over their digital assets.
The ReportCyber Ploy
According to the AFP, the scam works by first having the fraudsters submit fraudulent reports about their intended targets via the local cybercrime reporting tool, ReportCyber.
Later, the scammers contact the victims, posing as law enforcement. To prove their supposed authority, they invite the victim to verify the existence of the report on official government websites. This crucial step tricks the victims into believing the call is legitimate, establishing a foundation of trust that is then exploited.
“Thankfully the target became suspicious and hung up,“ the AFP said, referencing one near-miss case.
In that specific scenario, the initial “police” caller warned the victim that a representative from a crypto company would call next to provide further “information to prove their legitimacy.” This second caller would then attempt to persuade the target to transfer money from their current platform wallet to a wallet chosen by the scammers.
A Highly Convincing Sheme
AFP Detective Superintendent Marie Andersson noted the alarming sophistication of the scam. The impersonators falsely claim that an individual has been arrested and that the victim has been implicated in an investigation involving a crypto breach.
“The scammers’ verification steps often resembled legitimate law-enforcement procedures, making the scheme ‘highly convincing’ to some victims,” Andersson explained.
She pointed to this incident as part of a broader, global trend of scams becoming increasingly complex and difficult to spot.
What Law Enforcement Will Never Do
To protect the public, Detective Superintendent Andersson issued a strong warning and advised Australians to take necessary safety measures online.
She stressed that if an individual is contacted about a ReportCyber report they did not personally lodge or authorize, they should immediately terminate the call and notify ReportCyber.
Crucially, she provided a clear, non-negotiable guideline for dealing with officials:
“Also bear in mind legitimate law enforcement officials will never request access to your cryptocurrency accounts, wallets, bank accounts, cryptocurrency wallet seed phrases, or any personal information relating to your financial accounts.”
Australia's Fight Against Crypto Crime Intensifies
This latest warning comes as Australian authorities ramp up their efforts to combat cryptocurrency-related crime across the nation:
Major Asset Seizure: In late October, the AFP announced a significant breakthrough, having successfully cracked a coded cryptocurrency wallet backup that contained 9 million Australian dollars ($5.9 million), believed to be the proceeds of a crime.
Regulatory Crackdown: Australia’s markets regulator has been actively expanding its campaign against online scams, having taken down 14,000 scams since July 2023. Notably, over 3,000 of these scams involved cryptocurrency.
Victimization via ATMs: A stark reminder of the human cost of these crimes was highlighted in July, when authorities in Tasmania found that the top 15 users of crypto ATMs in the state were all victims of scams, with their combined losses totalling $1.6 million.
The recent exploitation of government channels marks a worrying escalation in digital deception, urging Australians to remain hyper-vigilant against any unsolicited contact regarding their financial and digital assets.
~Rushen Wickramaratne
