Мошенники маскируются под киберполицию Австралии для кражи криптовалюты Translation: Headline: Scammers disguise as Australian cyber police to steal cryptocurrency

Criminals have utilized a public channel to communicate with Australia’s cyber police in order to deceive local citizens into relinquishing their digital assets. This information was detailed in a press release from the Australian Federal Police (AFP).

According to law enforcement sources, the perpetrators illegally intercepted personal data, including email addresses and phone numbers, through a database maintained by the National Centre for Police and Cybercrime Coordination.

This information enabled them to send fraudulent requests on behalf of victims via the national online crime reporting system, ReportCyber.

The report indicates that one victim received a call from an individual claiming to be a police officer. The caller informed the victim that their name was included in a data leak of cryptocurrency wallets and provided an official incident reference code from ReportCyber.

The victim checked the information on the website and indeed found their email address listed, which had been acquired by the fraudsters through the data breach.

Subsequently, the scammers called again, posing as «support» from an exchange and asked the victim to transfer funds to a «secure wallet.» At this point, the victim became suspicious and ended the conversation.

In several other cases, similar tactics, such as «spoofing» phone numbers, were employed.

AFP Detective Superintendent Mari Anderson stated that the new scam created a «facade of legitimacy»:

«Cybercriminals perform a verification process of the victim’s personal information that may align with common expectations. Furthermore, they quickly transition from messaging to phone calls, generating a sense of urgency.»

She noted that the incident highlights the increasingly sophisticated and calculated methods used by scammers to exploit Australians’ trust.

It is worth mentioning that in September, a user lost 783 BTC due to a social engineering attack. The fraudsters impersonated representatives from a cryptocurrency exchange and a hardware wallet support service.