The fraudulent job postings have drawn prospective employees to foreign countries, where they are forced to take part in cryptocurrency fraud schemes.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) of the United States has alerted the public to a fresh crypto job scams that has arisen.
The FBI warned U.S. citizens and people travelling or living overseas on May 22 to be cautious of fake job advertisements linked to labor trafficking. As per the advert, victims were “held against their will, intimidated, and forced to commit international cryptocurrency investment fraud schemes.”
NEW: The #FBI warns of false job advertisements linked to labor trafficking at Southeast Asia-based scam compounds where victims are held against their will, intimidated & forced to commit international cryptocurrency investment fraud schemes. Learn more: https://t.co/4haIGGhZiy pic.twitter.com/OceyPR3iIB
— FBI Las Vegas (@FBILasVegas) May 22, 2023
The warning goes on to claim that victims have been largely targeted in Asia and are promised a variety of options, such as technical support, customer service in contact centers, and working as technicians in beauty salons. However, job applicants are “coerced” into participating in Bitcoin investment scams after they arrive in a foreign location.
The FBI has urged those who have fallen victim to such scams to come forward and report via an online portal.
In recent years, the FBI has taken part in a number of investigations concerning crypto scams and other similar incidents.
Most recently, on May 1, the FBI field office in Detroit and the Ukrainian National Police “conducted coordinated, court-authorized activity,” which resulted in the seizure and closing of nine digital currency exchange services.
The domains, which reportedly helped scammers, were 24xbtc.com, 100btc.pro, pridechange.com, trust-exchange.org, and bitcoin24.exchange, among others.
The cryptocurrency security and auditing company CertiK published an overview of the month’s flaws and scams on April 30, revealing a loss of $103.7 million. Half of all cryptocurrency exploits in 2023 were lost in April.
The popular YouTube channel DidYouKnowGaming was a victim of an ongoing hack that advertised XRP cryptocurrency frauds at around the same time.
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