Celebrities used in Bitcoin scam costing Australians millions
The NSW Cybercrime Squad shut down 15 bogus Bitcoin sites in March and have sent a warning about an emerging internet scam using celebrities.
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The identities of celebrities like Chris Hemsworth and Nicole Kidman are being used as fronts for Bitcoin scams costing Australians millions of dollars.
In the first three months of this year alone, 423 people in NSW reported the fake endorsement scam, including a Mosman man who lost about $100,000.
The cryptocurrency market has boomed in recent years, with 4000 different types available and values riding an upward trend.
But the price is volatile, police warned.
Detective Chief Inspector Gordon Arbinja said cybercriminals were using celebrities to lure people into Bitcoin – a type of digital currency – scams.
Celeste Barber, David Koch, Chris Hemsworth, Nicole Kidman and businessman Dick Smith are among the high profile figures whose faces and voices had been attached to scams.
“None of these people have ever endorsed cryptocurrency,” Insp Arbinja, from the NSW Cybercrime Squad, said.
“But because these people are in the public eye and they have had so many interviews, they use snippets of conversations they have had about things, put it all together and it appears like they are endorsing it.
“Or they use someone that speaks like them.”
Victims were either being used as money laundering mules and buying Bitcoin or paying huge amounts of money for Bitcoin that never existed.
In recent examples, a 61-year-old Sydney man told police he paid $102,000 for bitcoin after seeing a Facebook ad endorsed by TV presenter David Koch.
The man and his wife sent photos of their licences and utility bills to who they thought were cryptocurrency traders.
In Victoria, a woman invested more than $150,000 after seeing a clip online of Thor star Chris Hemsworth speaking about Bitcoin.
She was gradually convinced to transfer $20,000 at a time but called her bank to stop a transfer on the eighth or ninth occasion after suspecting she was involved in a scam.
Insp Gordon said Bitcoin was being used legitimately by businesses and individuals around the world.
“Bitcoin is being adopted and becoming more accepted,” Insp Gordon said.
“That’s why people start thinking it must be legitimate if all these celebrities are doing it.
“Their (celebrities) success coupled with bitcoin trajectory, (investors) see a common thread and that’s why people get duped buying Bitcoin (in these scams).”
Potential bitcoin investors should only use legitimate cryptocurrency exchanges that are registered with AUSTRAC.
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