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Australia's securities regulator has been clamping down on investment scams over the past year. Bybit/flickr.com

KEY POINTS

  • A total of 615 crypto investment scam sites were taken down since July 2023
  • Investment scams have caused losses of $1.3 billion among Australian consumers
  • Australia has been embracing crypto, but it has also been tightening its grip on oversight

As the cryptocurrency industry continues to grow in Australia, the country's financial regulator, the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) revealed it has been on an extensive crackdown of scam websites since July 2023.

The regulator has taken down over 7,300 phishing and investment scam websites in its year-long crackdown, including crypto-related scams.

"Since July 2023, ASIC has coordinated the removal of over 5,530 fake investment platform scams, 1,065 phishing scam hyperlinks and 615 cryptocurrency investment scams," the consumer regulator said in a Monday press release.

Investment scams lead to over a billion in losses

ASIC revealed that investment scams were the leading type of extortion that affects many Australians and has led to a staggering $1.3 billion in losses in the past year.

Scammers implement their activities through digital platforms, such as social media, to lure consumers into opening scam websites. The ASIC noted that taking down such websites "disrupts" the flow of the scam process and breaks off the link between scammers and potential victims.

As part of the efforts to ensure Australian consumers are protected, an "average of 20 investment scam websites" are taken down daily, ASIC Deputy Chair Sarah Court said.

An evolving scams landscape

Court warned that while innovations in the crypto and tech realms can provide ways through which consumers can live and work, such innovative developments can also be used by scammers.

"Scammers will continue to adapt and find new ways to lure consumers, and ASIC remains proactive in detecting and disrupting investment scams," she said.

The regulator specifically noted how dextrade-markets.net was taken down. ASIC said an Australian consumer reported about the online crypto investment scam that "falsely claimed it was internationally regulated" and "had billions in trading volume and millions of investors." The website was shut down within an hour after the regulator referred the Dexa Trade Markets site to the takedown provider.

The Australian government's investor alert site notes that Dexa Trade Markets is "unlicensed," a designation that the government said describes websites that offer financial services to Australian consumers without proper licensing.

Stringent oversight amid crypto boom

Australia's crackdown on crypto investment scams comes as the country continues to embrace digital assets. Last month, VanEck's spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) was listed on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX), marking the first time a $BTC ETF entered the ASX.

Jamie Elkaleh, Bitget's country manager, said the listing proves that Australia is more open to innovative products than other countries, and it has a "futuristic" approach to innovations.

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