Austria’s financial watchdog has revealed that cryptocurrency-related scams have skyrocketed in the central European country. According to authorities, they accounted for about two-thirds of all financial frauds last year. The Financial Market Authority (FMA) said 2020 saw a record high in whistleblower reports of potential fraud. As Bloomberg reports, digital currencies have been the focus of most reports.
More than 60% of all financial frauds in Austria last year were related to digital currencies. They were mainly aimed at users of social media. They promoted their scams on WhatsApp, Facebook, Telegram and TikTok, he said, and this made it difficult for the regulator to stop them. Since digital currencies are global, investigations are also more complicated as they span jurisdictions. “We see a great need for stricter regulation. Fake stock and gold deals have always existed and these scams are now changing. g to digital assets because of the hype,” he told Bloomberg. The Austrian digital currency ecosystem has continued to grow despite scammers. Many global exchanges have a presence in the nation, including Coinbase, Bitstamp, CEX, and eToro. The FMA continues to crack down on digital currency scammers, identifying unlicensed companies and warning the public. This includes RaxTrade, which offered users 125 assets to trade without commission. He also warned against Premium Borsa, Pennyworth Investments, ANB Bank and GCG 24.
The Austrian government has also promoted the adoption of digital currencies. Finance Minister Hartwig Loeger already announced in 2019 that he would create a regulatory sandbox in the fintech sector, including digital currencies. The Austrian federal government has committed to a partnership with the US Financial Conduct Authority. more than 50% in 2020.According to a report by Chainalysis, it accounted for 0.34% of all $10 billion digital currency transactions. Last year it was 2.1% at $21.4 billion. Chain analysis showed that fraud was the most common crime, although it had decreased by 72%. Ransomware attacks saw the largest growth, up 311%. See also: CoinGeek Live Dashboard, Digital Currency and Global Compliance: Tools and Tips for Exchanges, Wallets and Other Service Providers…