Scammers have created fake cryptocurrencies in Russia

Russians invest in ICO but cannot get their money back afterward

18.11.2021 - 11:00

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What’s new? Cybercriminals have started to use initial coin offering (ICO) of tokens to defraud. Russians began to face this particular type of fraud namely investing in ICO, they cannot get their money back afterward. This is reported by “Izvestia” with reference to the Deputy Chairman of the Board of Sber Stanislav Kuznetsov.

Article on the Izvestia portal

What is the scheme of fraud? Kuznetsov said that attackers make a mailing offering to invest in a new cryptocurrency. The email already contains a link to payment, and as soon as the victim transfers the money to the specified details, the scammers do not get in touch.

What does the expert say? Kaspersky Lab has confirmed the schemes for creating fake token placements. Mikhail Sytnik, the company's lead content analyst, stated:

“To gain credibility, scammers often send a personal message mimicking an official channel or a person is addressed to by an “admin.” It also happens that the potential victim is added to the “official channel,” a fake one, of course. In addition, the danger of such a scheme is that it may not be obvious to users that they are facing a fraudulent resource since many of them look authentic.”

The company reminded users not to click on questionable links from emails, messengers, and social networks for security purposes.

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