Australia warns that criminals are abusing the nation’s cybercrime platform to drain crypto wallets

Fraudsters are weaponizing Australia’s national cybercrime reporting system to impersonate federal police and empty crypto wallets, authorities warned on Wednesday.

According to the Australian Federal Police, false reports are being filed through ReportCyber, the government’s official cybercrime reporting platform, using stolen personal information and then calling victims while posing as AFP agents to steal digital assets. statement.

The scam appears convincing as criminals “verify personal information in a manner consistent with common expectations” and act quickly “to create a sense of urgency,” AFP Detective Marie Andersson said in the statement.

According to the AFP-led Joint Policing Cybercrime Coordination Centre, cybercriminals have illegally obtained personal data, including email addresses and phone numbers, to file fraudulent reports through the platform.

The AFP says the system allows third-party reporting on behalf of victims, a feature the scammers abuse to gain credibility.

Declutter has contacted the AFP for further comment.

How the scam works

Police detailed in their statement how one of these specific scams worked.

One of the victims reportedly received a call from someone posing as an AFP official, told them their name appeared in a crypto-related data breach and was given an official-looking ReportCyber ​​reference number, the AFP said.

When the victim saw the matching report submitted by the scammer, the scheme seemed credible. A second caller, posing as a crypto platform, used the same reference number to initiate a transfer to a fake refrigerator wallet.

The victim became suspicious and hung up before transferring money. Police said similar cases use spoofed phone numbers to imitate genuine AFP lines.

Andersson urged vigilance, saying Australians should “watch for warning signs and protect themselves.”

Authorities emphasized that real agents will never request access to crypto accounts, seed phrases or banking details.

Anyone contacted about a ReportCyber ​​submission they did not make should hang up and call 1300 CYBER1, Andersson said, noting how legitimate reports remain critical to helping police “detect criminals and prevent others from being targeted.”

Enforcement against crypto fraud

The warning comes as Australian regulators intensify their campaign against crypto-related fraud on multiple fronts.

Last month, Home Secretary Tony Burke announced upcoming legislation regulate crypto ATMslabeling the machines as a ‘high risk product’ linked to money laundering and child exploitation.

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission reported this in August removing approximately 3,015 crypto scam websites in two years, some of the 14,000 fraudulent sites have been removed.

Meanwhile, the CEO of financial intelligence agency AUSTRAC, Brendan Thomas, flagged digital currency as one greatest threat in July, describing new anti-money laundering rules as “the most ambitious overhaul of Australia’s anti-money laundering laws in a generation.”