Security News > 2022 > July > Don't dive head first into that crypto pool, FBI warns

The FBI has warned cryptocurrency owners and would-be owners about a scam involving phony liquidity mining that the bureau says has cost victims more than $70 million in combined losses since 2019.

Liquidity mining is an investment strategy that appears to reward investors for contributing some of their crypto assets to a pool, which provides traders the liquidity necessary to conduct transactions.

Fraudsters are targeting Tether and Ethereum owners in this scam, and finding victims by just about any means possible - direct messages, social media, dating apps, messaging services, and word of mouth, according to an FBI alert [PDF] this week.

After conning their marks into linking their crypto wallets to phony liquidity mining apps, the scammers then wipe out the victims' funds by moving the digital coins into their own wallets.

"Individuals purporting to be customer service representatives for the scam may present one of several explanations as to where the money went and why it is no longer accessible, culminating in the assertion that the victim needs to deposit additional funds in order to receive their money back," the FBI noted.

Despite dire warnings that a crypto winter is coming, or already here, cryptocurrency and related NFT scams still prove profitable to crooks and phony liquidity mining apps are just the latest example that criminals will find a way to make a buck, whether that's in paper money or bitcoin.

News URL

https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2022/07/22/fbi_liquidity_mining_scam/