With the surging popularity of cryptocurrencies, the pace of committing frauds and scams has also surged, ultimately helping bad actors to gain massive profits by victimizing innocent investors.
In a recent development, Netherland police have arrested a student aged 24 year old law student over operating a multi-million dollar crypto scam. Additional information states that the arrested individual has been accused of embezzling €4.5 million, from 300 innocent investors.
The detained student was on the radar of the police agencies, and during his arrest, the agencies had tapped multiple locations linked with the students.
As per people aware of the scam, the scheme has gained massive traction initially, leading to denoting the individual as the crypto genius. He allegedly gathered huge investment from footballers of the region, as he is also known for his footballing skills.
The accused and his brother emailed about 300 investors in 2024. He disclosed, much to his chagrin, that all of their money, including his own, had been lost in the plan.
Police officials have seized dozens of proof and evidence from the location reportedly linked to the arrested law student. It is worth noting that the individual has used the funds collected from the new investor to pay the amount/gains to the older investors.
The police officials have quoted “ The Hengelo man will be questioned extensively in the coming day.” He collected 50% of the income as fees, and the crypto fraud demanded a minimum investment of €5,000 ($5,146).
Possible ways to tackle the surging scams and frauds in crypto in 2025?
A multifaceted strategy is required to combat the soaring scams and frauds in the cryptocurrency industry in 2025.
This entails putting in place precise regulatory frameworks, including requirements for licensing and registration, as well as implementing know-your-customer and anti-money laundering legislation.
Programs for investor education and public awareness can also assist consumers in avoiding fraud and making wise selections.
Scams may also be identified and avoided by putting sophisticated security measures in place, such as multi-factor authentication and encryption, as well as by utilizing blockchain analytics, AI, and machine learning.
Victims can receive justice and future frauds can be prevented with the support of specialized cryptocurrency units inside law enforcement agencies and severe punishments for scammers.
2024 reported the highest scams and fraud cases
Phishing websites pertaining to cryptocurrencies made up 8% of all those that ESET saw in H1 2024. PeckShield reports that hackers accounted for almost 70% of the losses, with scammers accounting for the other 30%.
A constant year-over-year superiority over centralized finance indicates that decentralized finance protocols continue to be the greatest target and account for the bulk of the losses.
Activity had slowed by the latter quarter of the year, with losses during this time accounting for only 10.3% of the total. Nevertheless, Acedrainer, a new competitor, entered the market and took 20% of the drainer market.
Hackers attacked customers of the well-known Bitcoin hardware wallet Ledger over the holidays and phishing emails intended to steal recovery phrases were sent to 100s of users.
