FBI Warns Of Crypto Scammers Prowling On LinkedIn, Bitcoin Falls

The price of Bitcoin fell by 8.24 per cent in the last 24 hours, while Ethereum was down by 8.30 per cent

Updated on: 18 June 2022 7:10 pm

Crypto scammers have taken to the professional networking site, LinkedIn, now, according to the FBI.

FBI special agent Sean Ragan said that investment scams are a “significant threat” to user safety. “There are many potential victims, and there are many past and current victims,” Ragan said.

FBI says fraud on LinkedIn a 'significant threat' to platform and consumers https://t.co/mBVxrf44Wy
— CNBC (@CNBC) June 17, 2022

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The Microsoft-owned social networking platform claims to have 830 million members in more than 200 countries.

Apparently, the FBI has noticed an increase in investment-related fraud. From January 2021 to March 2022, US cryptocurrency traders lost $575 million due to investment fraud, according to the Federal Trade Commission.

LinkedIn’s director of trust, privacy, and equity, Oscar Rodriguez acknowledged that the number of scammers are increasing on its platform. Fake profiles often claim to be associated with legitimate and successful companies, or represent people with “entrepreneurial spirit”, Rodriguez said.

LinkedIn emphasizes business news and relationships. LinkedIn does not currently offer profile verification for notable users, unlike Twitter and Instagram. The company says it has a track record of proactively removing spam and scam content.

Elsewhere, with recent crypto losses totalling $1.5 trillion, a flood of class-action lawsuits is on the way. One major question is who, if anyone, is to blame — and who might be held accountable for investors’ losses? From a peak of $3 trillion in November 2021, the total value of crypto assets has fallen to less than $1 trillion.

The lawsuit alleges that followers were encouraged to join a “pump-and-dump” scheme that deceived investors. Earlier this month, a former employee of OpenSea, a non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace was charged with wire fraud and money laundering.

Crypto Prices

The price of Bitcoin in the cryptocurrency market fell by 8.24 per cent in the last 24 hours, and it was trading at $19,263.07 at 5:30 pm IST. According to Coinmarketcap.com, its dominance in the crypto market is currently at 43.42 per cent, down by 0.90 per cent in the last 24 hours.

In the last 24 hours, Ethereum (ETH) was trading at $1,003.66, down by 8.30 per cent, while Binance Coin (BNB) was down by 7.10 per cent during the same time period, and it was trading at $202.32. Solana (SOL) was down by 5.44 per cent to $30.01, while Cardano (ADA) was down by 5.22 per cent to $0.4654.

Meme Coins

Dogecoin was trading at $0.05414 at 5:30 pm IST, down by 5.73 per cent on Coinmarketcap.com. Its rival, Shiba Inu, was down by 5.01 per cent, and it was trading at $0.000007863. Samoyedcoin was down by 1.91 per cent, and it was trading at $0.004003, while Dogelon Mars was down by 7.21 per cent, and it was trading at $0.0000002557.

Overall Scenario

According to Coinmarketcap.com, the global crypto market cap was at $846.87 billion, a decrease of 6.30 per cent in the last 24 hours, while the total crypto market volume was $69.62 billion, a decrease of 6.95 per cent.

Idea Chain Coin (ICH) was the biggest gainer, gaining 1,666.42 per cent. It was trading at $0.5063 at 5:30 pm IST, according to Coinmarketcap. In contrast, Teloscoin (TELOS) witnessed the maximum loss and fell by 99.04 per cent. It was trading at $0.001606.