The cryptocurrency market is an incredibly interesting and opportunity-rich place. However, navigating it, especially for people who have not dealt with digital assets, can be complicated. Scammers are trying to take advantage of this, and in 2022 alone, they swindled PLN 10 billion globally from unsuspecting consumers.
As it turns out, you can easily become a victim of cryptocurrency crime without even realizing it. Below is a recording of an actual conversation that took place between the customer service office (BOK) of the Kanga exchange and a concerned customer. This time, fraud was avoided. But will you be so lucky?
Cryptocurrency scammers in action. We expose the scheme of action
One of the recorded meetings with the customer service team is a tangible example of the increasing activity of cryptocurrency criminals. One of Kang’s clients became a target of a scammer. However, thanks to the appropriate security system and effective action of employees, the exchange was able to intervene and protect the investor from losing funds.
Kanga’s client was a 70-year-old man who honestly admitted that he knew nothing about cryptocurrencies. However, he met someone online who promised to introduce him to this market, which allows for quick and easy multiplication of money. The “financial advisor”, who had a distinctly Eastern accent, gained the trust of the man who was unfamiliar with new technologies and convinced him to set up an account on the Kanga platform and transfer funds to it. Fraudsters often contact older people trying to take advantage of their gullibility and lack of knowledge of new solutions.
Of course, he “assisted” the elderly man the whole time, guiding him step by step through the registration stages using the Anydesk platform, which allows you to remotely connect to someone’s computer.
At that time, Kanga’s team identified suspicious activity on the 70-year-old’s account. Exchange employees blocked the account, contacted the client, and informed him of their suspicions. In the recording, you can hear the man’s surprise and admission that he did not order such an operation.
“When They Grab You By the Hand…” – or How Do Scammers Operate?
What is most noteworthy about this recording is the fact that during the conversation between the customer service employee and the customer, the scammer was on the line the entire time, listening to the conversation. How do we know that? The customer unknowingly did not hang up on the Kanga employee after the matter was resolved, so we can hear the scammer’s reaction to the whole situation.
First, he tried to convince the client that he was acting in his favor by saying that he was only helping him and that his investment amount was too small for him to want to cheat him. Then, he suggested that the client should take up the matter with the customer service office himself, asking for the account block to be removed. At the same time, in order to give the client the impression that he had control over the situation, he asked questions such as: “What do you think?”, “Do you agree?”, “Am I right?”.
Wanting to confirm that he works for a serious company, the scammer allegedly transferred the client to the “finance department”. However, the phone from that department is filled with colloquial expressions, curses, and even mentions of using Anydesk, clearly exposing the fraudsters.
Pay attention to these things to avoid getting scammed!
The above story shows us how much effort scammers can put in. They are able to manipulate their victim so that they are convinced until the very end that the scammer is their friend. It is enough to engage in a discussion with an online friend for a moment to lose common sense imagining how much a quick injection of more cash could change in our lives.
These 5 factors should set off a warning light in your head if someone is offering you money on the cryptocurrency market:
- If something sounds too good to be true, it usually is. – 10%, 20% or even 30% fixed profit per month are unrealistic offers to maintain in the long term.
- Offering mountains of gold over the phone – think about why a company you don’t know is calling you to offer you the investment opportunity of a lifetime?
- Screen sharing – No serious company will ever ask you to share your computer screen. Even if you want to “help.”
- No clear information – always ask for the company name, address, name and surname of the person who will contact you and check information about them on the Internet.
- Nice guy from the internet – The internet can be a great place to meet interesting people. However, if someone claims to show you a great way to make money, they usually don’t have good intentions.
By not responding to suspicious emails, phone calls, messages and social media invitations, you will be much safer!
Take matters into your own hands
The recording should be a warning to you, but also information that you are not alone in the fight against fraudsters. Many cryptocurrency platforms also take care to protect you from such threats – they instruct, warn, educate, take care of the best technical solutions. However, the weakest link in all of this is the human.
At the beginning of this text, the question was asked: will you be so lucky? The most sensible thing to do is not count on it, but take matters into your own hands. You, as the owner of the funds, make the final decision on whether to enter into a promising investment or click on a link. If you do it voluntarily, the technology providers are helpless. All that remains is to use the benefits of technology (e.g. reliable 2FA) and monitor how scammers operate, so that your warning light always goes on at the right moment.
To learn more about how Kanga combats money laundering and other frauds, please visit to read this article. The platform also works continuously to build awareness among Poles about the threats resulting from involvement in money laundering and related frauds. as part of the Don’t Fuck! campaign
This story ends with a happy, yet very telling statement from the client: “I would never have thought I was being manipulated.” How often do you think about this when you use the internet?
