The FBI has issued an advisory informing financial institutions and investors that cybercriminals swindled approximately $42.7 million from 244 victims through fake cryptocurrency investment applications.
Criminals operating YiBit, one of the companies named in the advisory, took about $5.5 million from at least four victims between October 2021 and May 2022 by convincing them to download the YiBit app and make cryptocurrency deposits into wallets linked to their YiBit accounts, the FBI said Monday.
These victims received an email informing them to pay taxes on their investments to facilitate withdrawals. After doing so, they were unable to withdraw the funds.
The FBI warning also named another fraudulent crypto investment app associated with criminals operating under the corporate name Supayos. Two victims were defrauded with the Supay app.
The bureau called on financial institutions to inform clients of the fraudulent activity and encourage their customers to conduct online searches of their company names and logos to see if they are being associated with scams.
Investors should verify the legitimacy of an app and be cautious of unsolicited requests to download investment apps, according to the advisory.
