There is a new way to scam liquidity mining on the Web

The FBI revealed that a scheme using sites with fake dashboard information about returns resulted in $70 million in losses

26.07.2022 - 13:25

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2 min

What’s new? Representatives of the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) warned crypto investors about a fraudulent investment strategy using liquidity mining. The scheme has already resulted in more than $70 million in combined losses. The scammers attract potential victims to invest by promising 1% to 3% returns daily. They most often target Ethereum (ETH) and/or Tether stablecoin (USDT) holders.

The FBI's warning

Liquidity mining is a passive income investment strategy using cryptocurrency. Investors place their cryptocurrencies in a liquidity pool to provide traders with the liquidity necessary to make transactions. In return, they receive part of the trading fees.

How do criminals operate? Scammers approach potential victims via messengers on social networks and apps, including dating apps, and then convince them to link their cryptocurrency wallets to fake liquidity-mining apps.

Victims transfer cryptocurrency from their wallets to the platform, after which they are shown a fake dashboard with their earnings. Believing the investment was successful, they buy additional cryptocurrency. As a result, the fraudsters transfer all the assets stored on the platform to a controlled wallet.

Earlier, the FBI warned about the emergence of a large number of fraudulent cryptocurrency applications that use logos of real companies and financial institutions. The total damage exceeded $42,7 million.

Also, the FBI talked about fraud using the business networking platform LinkedIn. Attackers create fake accounts, posing as assistants of successful investors or employees of large companies, and convince victims to transfer money to the sites under their control.

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