Australia has recorded 95 companies that are assumed to have operated crypto investments and romantic scams under the guise of legitimate companies.
In her last enforcement action against cryptocurrency -crimes, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission confirmed in an April 8 rack That the federal court had approved its application to close the companies.
According to the committee, the court agreed to avert them fair and fair grounds, with ASIC -finding that most were registered with the help of false information.
The watchdog suspects that the companies were part of coordinated scam activities, in particular linked to “pig separation” schemes, in which scammers build up fake online relationships to earn the trust of victims before they mislead them to invest in fraudulent crypto -platforms.
Justice Angus Stewart, who provides the issue, described the case to make the companies as ‘overwhelming’, adding that there was a justified lack of trust in their behavior and management.
In a March 21 ruling The court revised 17 companies from the list found a clear pattern of pig separation from scam linked to misleading websites and apps.
The federal court appointed Catherine Connely and Thomas Birch of Cor Cordis as joint liquiders of the 95 companies. In their first research, they discovered that only three companies held assets, which encouraged a recommendation to immediately shield the remaining 92.
Since then, the liquidators have received nearly 1500 claims from alleged victims in 14 countries, including Australia, the United States, Cameroon, Ghana, India, Nepal, the Philippines and France. Reported losses exceed $ 35.8 million.
ASIC believes that many of the websites and mobile apps that are linked to the companies are designed to imitate legitimate trading platforms, making users think that their funds were properly invested. In reality, the platforms were fake and the money from the victims was aimed at accounts that were checked by the perpetrators.
“These companies were founded with the aim of offering a veneer of credibility,” said Asic Deputy Chairman Sarah Court, warning that “scammers will use any tool they can think of to steal the money and personal information of people.”
ASIC has aggressively focused on such fraud and, according to the announcement, has removed around 130 scam websites per week. To date, the agency claims to have closed more than 10,000 malignant sites, including more than 7,200 fake investment platforms and 1500 phishing scam.
Last month the agency also went against Crypto ATM operators, warning that those who do not comply with anti-money laundering practices will experience legal steps. Austrac marked an increase in suspicious transactions and scams linked to the machines, and insisted on tighter supervision of the Crypto ATM network of Australia.
