Whether chasing the digital currency dream, or paying a virtual ransom, the impact on Australians, where cryptocurrencies were concerned, grew in parallel to the “value” and popularity of the likes of Bitcoin in the fourth quarter of 2017.
Between January and September 2017, about AUD 100k was reported lost per month to scams which had a cryptocurrency angle. However, in the month of December 2017, reported losses to Scamwatch, the ACCC-run scam notice website, exceeded AUD 700k.
According to the ACCC, examples of cryptocurrency scams in 2017 included fake initial coin offerings (ICOs), which purport to be the launch of a new cryptocurrency. Other scams, the ACCC said, capitalised on the general confusion about how cryptocurrency works and instead of people discovering how to directly buy cryptocurrencies, many found themselves caught up in what were essentially pyramid schemes.
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