The FBI is warning of an increase in scammers pretending to be recovery companies that can help victims of cryptocurrency investment scams recover lost assets.
The bulletin mentions that the money lost to cryptocurrency investment fraud surpassed $2.5 billion in 2022, and this only concerns cases reported to the authorities. Furthermore, many people lose cryptocurrency through information-stealing malware or phishing attacks that steal wallets, likely making this number far larger.
This situation creates an opportunity for recovery scheme scammers who tap into this vast pool of victims, taking advantage of their desperation to recover their funds while only deceiving them a second time.
"Representatives of fraudulent businesses claiming to provide cryptocurrency tracing and promising an ability to recover lost funds may contact victims directly on social media or messaging platforms," reads the FBI notice.
"Victims may also encounter advertisements for fraudulent cryptocurrency recovery services in the comment sections of online news articles and videos about cryptocurrency; among online search results for cryptocurrency; or on social media."
BleepingComputer has seen these types of scams posted to our own news stories, in other sites' comment sections, and on Medium.
Comment promoting fake crypto recovery services
Comment promoting fake crypto recovery services (BleepingComputer)
While social media, especially Twitter, has been attempting to crack down on these scams, they are still plagued by cryptocurrency support and recovery scams.
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