FBI WARNS OF HACKERS USING FAKE PLAY-TO-EARN APPS TO STEAL CRYPTOCURRENCY

Mon 13 March 2023:

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in the US has warned that threat actors are now using fake rewards in so-called “play-to-earn” mobile and online games to steal millions worth of cryptocurrency.

According to BleepingComputer, they do this by using specially designed game apps that offer enormous cash rewards directly proportional to investments made to potential targets with whom they have already built confidence through protracted online talks.

“Criminals reach out to victims online and gradually establish relationships with them. According to a recent PSA from the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center, thieves “then introduce victims to an online or mobile game, in which players allegedly earn cryptocurrency rewards in exchange for some action, such as cultivating ‘crops’ on an animated farm” (IC3).

Victims are instructed to purchase a cryptocurrency and create a crypto wallet in order to participate in these large reward games.

According to the study, the con artists claim that the benefits rise as the victim keeps more cash in the wallet.

When victims stop making deposits, thieves empty their bank accounts by luring them with fake prizes.

The article further stated that these con artists will deceive their victims into thinking they may get their money back by paying extra taxes or fees, only to leave them with nothing.

Meanwhile, Over 4,00,000 new malicious files were distributed every day by cybercriminals to attack users in 2022, indicating a 5 per cent growth compared to 2021, a new report has said.

Kaspersky, a cybersecurity company, estimates that 3,80,000 of these files were found daily in 2021, and 122 million harmful files were found in 2022, an increase of 6 million from the year before.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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