Austrian Police Uncover $1.2M Crypto Scam

In
a
cyber
sleuthing
breakthrough,
Austrian
police
have
unraveled
an
intricate
web
of
deception
spun
by
a
criminal
network
believed
to
have
swindled
over
€1.2
million
($1.26
million)
from
unsuspecting
investors,
primarily
in
the
realm
of
digital
assets.
The
victims
of
this
crypto
heist
were
predominantly
Austrian.

The
proverbial
puppet
master
pulling
the
strings
of
this
elaborate
charade
is
reportedly
a
39-year-old
Dutch
man
of
Serbian
descent.
His
identity
remains
undisclosed.
Currently
serving
a
three-year
sentence,
he
was
apprehended
earlier
this
year
in
Milan
in
a
joint
operation
involving
Europol.

In
a
wicked
twist
to
a
classic
scam
known
as
“Rip
Deal”
in
Austria,
the
fraudsters
have
reportedly
integrated
digital
currency
into
their
operations.
Traditionally,
the
scam
involved
the
purchase
and
subsequent
resale
of
high-value
items,
such
as
luxury
watches,
using
counterfeit
money.
However,
in
the
reinvented
“Rip
Deal
2.0,”
the
criminals
allegedly
purchased
digital
assets
with
phony
cash.

The
Austrian
police
have
relentlessly
pursued
these
fraudsters
for
over
three
years.
The
lead
investigator,
who
has
been
painstakingly
piecing
together
the
myriad
elements
of
this
scam,
has
been
liaising
with
numerous
victims,
each
one
duped
by
the
Dutch
suspect
and
his
accomplices.

In
a
fortuitous
turn
of
events,
an
Austrian
businessman,
on
the
verge
of
losing
$137,000
to
the
scam,
was
saved
by
his
daughter,
a
police
officer.
She
spotted
the
hallmark
signs
of
a
Rip-Deal.
The
fraudsters
had
convinced
the
man
to
transfer
the
money
into
a
digital
asset
wallet
as
part
of
a
payment
for
an
industrial
machinery
deal.

The
lead
detective
disclosed
that
the
scammers
typically
lure
their
victims
to
upscale
hotels
overseas.
Payment
is
invariably
made
in
digital
assets
with
victims
tricked
into
revealing
their
passwords
or
‘seed
phrases’
for
cryptocurrency
wallets.
The
fraudsters
then
use
this
information
to
seize
control
of
the
wallets
and
drain
them
of
their
assets.

Rip-Deal
2.0
is
among
a
series
of
digital
currency
scams
that
the
Vienna
police
have
been
investigating
in
recent
years.
With
over
100
such
cases
solved
since
2020,
amounting
to
losses
of
$26.3
million,
Chief
Inspector
Gerald
Goldnagl,
who
heads
the
city’s
Rip-Deal
unit,
is
at
the
forefront
of
these
investigations.

Worldwide,
digital
asset
scams
continue
to
plague
millions
of
victims.
Stolen
funds
and
ransomware
are
the
two
primary
channels
for
these
cybercriminals,
who
reportedly
pilfered
$1.58
billion
and
generated
an
additional
$460
million
through
ransomware
in
the
first
half
of
the
year
alone,
according
to
a
Chainalysis
mid-year
report.

In
a
separate
development,
Ledger
users
are
being
targeted
by
scammers
using
spoof
emails.
The
fraudsters
masquerade
as
Ledger
support
staff
and
use
fear
tactics
to
coerce
users
into
revealing
their
recovery
phrases.
Ledger
has
since
issued
a
statement
reminding
its
users
that
it
would
never
solicit
their
recovery
phrases
via
call,
text,
or
email.
It
further
assured
users
that
its
systems
have
been
fortified
to
ensure
the
highest
standards
of
security.

As
the
line
between
the
digital
and
physical
world
blurs,
scams
like
these
serve
as
a
stark
reminder
of
the
importance
of
caution
and
vigilance
in
safeguarding
one’s
digital
assets.