It seems like the cryptocurrency boom has created a never-ending well of hucksters looking to steal your money. It’s scams all the way down.
According to a recent alert from the FBI, a new breed of scam is specifically targeting people who’ve already been scammed, posing as law firms that specialize in recovering funds lost to crypto schemes.
The US Federal Bureau of Investigation’s public service announcement (spotted by BleepingComputer) says that fraudsters will reach out to people who have already been victims of cryptocurrency scams via social media. They’ll pose as a lawyer or a law firm that specializes in recovering assets stolen via crypto scams, sometimes even claiming that they work with the FBI or the separate Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
Targeting people who’ve already fallen for a crypto scam seems incredibly scummy… but it makes sense in purely mercantile terms. Such victims have already shown that they’re susceptible to social engineering.
The scammers, who may or may not be the same people who ran the original scam, will claim that they’re actively seeking judgment against the original criminals. That’s the bait. The hook is personal banking information, a straight payment for “services,” or more complicated ruses involving fees or “back taxes.” Once they have enough info to steal your identity or just get paid, they vanish.
The FBI report says that this secondary round of scamming is on the rise, with an estimated $9 million stolen from victims between February 2023 and 2024. That’s a drop in the bucket of the larger cryptocurrency scam cottage industry, where pump-and-dump “rug pulls” and phishing scams to drain crypto wallets are now the norm. But it seems especially despicable to steal from people who’ve already been scammed.
Law enforcement can, on rare occasions, track and recover cryptocurrency to reimburse victims. And it’s certainly possible to pursue legal action against someone who’s scammed you, which means lawyers will be involved at some point. But they don’t typically reach out to victims on social media.
The sad truth is that most people who’ve been victimized by cryptocurrency scams either don’t know the real identities of their scammers or have no real legal recourse against them.
Author: Michael Crider, Staff Writer, PCWorld
Michael is a 10-year veteran of technology journalism, covering everything from Apple to ZTE. On PCWorld he's the resident keyboard nut, always using a new one for a review and building a new mechanical board or expanding his desktop "battlestation" in his off hours. Michael's previous bylines include Android Police, Digital Trends, Wired, Lifehacker, and How-To Geek, and he's covered events like CES and Mobile World Congress live. Michael lives in Pennsylvania where he's always looking forward to his next kayaking trip.