Australian rights activists are demanding that banks be held more accountable for fighting cryptocurrency fraud as more investors fall victim to cybercriminals.
According to a report by Scamwatch, an organization responsible for consumer safety in Australia and reporting to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), this year alone, citizens of the country have lost about $ 242 million due to cryptocurrency fraud.
Most of the funds were stolen as a result of investment fraud – victims were lured both with “new products” on the market and in classic pyramid schemes. According to the report, the total amount of stolen funds is already 36% higher than in all of 2021, when Australians lost $178 million.
Australian human rights activists are demanding that banks take more responsibility for compensating for losses due to fraud, and also invest in fighting it. In particular, they insist that banks check that the name of the recipient and the account match during transactions.
According to Consumer Action Law Center executive director Gerard Brody, the current system, in which almost all responsibility lies with consumers, does not work. It is noteworthy that most of the deceived investors are people aged 55 to 64 years.
Earlier, the Australian Federal Police (AFP) formed a special unit whose tasks will include combating money laundering and monitoring suspicious crypto transactions.
Source: Bits
I am an experienced journalist, writer, and editor with a passion for finance and business news. I have been working in the journalism field for over 6 years, covering a variety of topics from finance to technology. As an author at World Stock Market, I specialize in finance business-related topics.
