Australian federal police have alerted more than 130 people from a new SMS scam to crypto users who copies the same “sender identifier” as legitimate crypto exchanges such as Binance.
The identification scam implies that fraudsters sent messages via the encrypted text-to-email platforms by usurping the identity of a Binance representative, informing users of a cryptographic account violation and asking them to set up a new portfolio, said the Australian federal police (AFP) in a release of March 21.
Text messages seem real at first glance because they appear in the same legitimate text message thread as Binance Communications.
Australian federal police said they had found at least 130 people who have been targeted by this scam so far. Source: Australian Federal Police
“The messages contained false verification codes and were often” usurped “, which means that they appeared in a legitimate existing message of the well-known cryptocurrency exchange,” said AFP.
“An assistance telephone number was also sent, but when the targets called it, they were invited to protect their accounts by transferring their cryptocurrency to a confidence portfolio ”, which was controlled by the crook and made it possible to steal the assets.”
Online text messaging services allow you to send messages from an ID from the sender, such as a business name, rather than a telephone number and can be used to usurp text messages, according to a March 1, 2019 report by Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
Once a phone receives simulated communication, it would be grouped according to the sender ID, appearing in the same wire as other messages with the same ID.
AFP says he made an email and a text blitz to warn the 130 people they identified who could have been exposed to this scam.
AFP commander’s cybercrime operations, Graeme Marshall, said that once the funds transferred to the thief’s portfolio, they are quickly transferred through a wallet network, which makes the crisis or recovery difficult.
The attack imitates another series of scam messages reported by X users on March 14, where fraudulent e-mails usurpling the base of the base and Gemini tried to encourage users to set up a new portfolio using pre-generated recovery sentences controlled by crooks.
In relation: “The Australian barefoot investor faces cryptocurical crooks who steal his likeness
The police said that the red flags for this type of scam include the unsolicited contacts of someone who claims to be binance about an account violation, the pressure to act quickly and causes a sentence of seed.
Binance’s security director Jimmy SU, said the AFP declaration crooks have often been used to make the identity of confidence platforms, operating certain telecommunications gaps to manipulate the names and telephone numbers of shipments.
Su said that Binance has a tool to confirm the official binance channels, and in case of doubt, “stop and check through official sources”, such as contact details on the official website.
Source: Binance Australia
In December of last year, the Australian government announced plans for an identification register of the SMS sender and an enforceable standard of industry to repress similar scams, which have had an impact on the past of Australian airlines and Apple technological giant.
Under the standard, telecommunications companies must determine whether the messages sent under a brand correspond to the legitimate recorded sender and provide their legitimate sender identifiers for the register.
The register should be launched at the end of 2025, with an identification pilot register of the SMS sender operating as Stopgap in the meantime, according to the Minister of Communications of Australia, Michelle Rowland.
In August of last year, AFP revealed that a total of Australian $ 382 million (269 million dollars) had been lost by the Australians because of investment scams in the previous 12 months, with around 47% of them linked to the crypto.
Review: The favorite feat of the revealed Lazarus group – Analysis of cryptographic hacks
