Australian federal police to probe 2,000 exploited cryptocurrency wallets
Chainalysis’ Operation Spincaster discovered that over 2,000 Australian-owned cryptocurrency wallets had been targeted by “approval phishing” frauds. The Australian Federal Police says it is investigating losses caused by a series of crypto phishing scams that have affected at least 2,000 Australian-owned crypto wallets. It follows a Chain analysis investigation, Operation Spincaster, which discovered that thousands of crypto wallets belonging to Australians had been compromised via “approval phishing” techniques.
“The intelligence we have gathered collaboratively throughout Operation Spincaster has shed a clear light on new tactics being used by cybercriminals in their continued efforts to defraud Australians,” AFP Detective Superintendent Tim Stainton said in a statement on August 4.
“It will form a key part of our ongoing investigations to identify cybercrime victims and disrupt offenders in Australia.” Operation Spincaster addresses these approval phishing frauds with education, resources, and training. Approval phishing scams entail the scammer fooling the user into signing a fraudulent transaction that allows the scammer to transfer the victim’s tokens to their preferred wallet address.
It is particularly common in fraudulent investment schemes that promise great profits or in romance scams, sometimes known as pig-butchering scams. Since May 2021, victims have lost an estimated $4 billion due to approved phishing schemes. Chainalysis is collaborating with the AFP’s Policing Cybercrime Coordination Centre to help resolve ongoing investigations. The collaboration follows PCCC staff hosting a session with Chainalysis to delve deeper into Operation Spincaster and how to best safeguard Australians.
“The workshop involved Chainalysis sharing intelligence about compromised wallets, training on tracing stolen funds, guidance on detecting ongoing scam attempts in real-time, and discussions about how to contact and support victims of approval phishing.” BTC Markets, Binance, Crypto.com, Ebonex, Independent Reserve, OKX, SwyftX, and Wayex are among the cryptocurrency exchanges aiming to protect Australians from such scams, according to the AFP.
Over the last 12 to 14 months, Australian institutions have taken the initiative to avoid cryptocurrency scams by putting limits or outright blocks on payments to cryptocurrency exchanges. This includes the “Big 4” banks Commonwealth Bank, National Australia Bank, Westpac, and Australia and New Zealand Banking Group as well as Bendigo Bank and, more recently, HSBC. Australians might lose up to $840 million in investment scams in 2023, according to the country’s competition and consumer agency.
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