Australia Strikes Back: 95 Fake Crypto Companies Shut Down, Over 10,000 Scam Websites Removed

Australia is ramping up its fight against crypto scammers. With federal court approval, the country's financial watchdog ASIC has liquidated 95 companies linked to fraudulent crypto romance schemes and fake investment operations. This is part of a broader effort to combat increasingly sophisticated and global scams.

🏦 Shell Companies with No Real Activity According to ASIC, these entities were set up using false identities, had no real business operations, and served only as fronts for scammers. The court described the case as “staggering” and appointed liquidators to handle the dissolution. So far, over 1,500 claims from victims in 14 countries have been submitted—including the U.S., India, Ghana, Nepal, France, and Australia—with total losses exceeding $35 million.

💬 ASIC: Scammers Are Getting Smarter ASIC Deputy Chair Sarah Court warned that scammers are now using sophisticated tactics, including stolen identities and AI-generated content, to create highly convincing fake profiles and schemes. A growing trend is so-called "pig butchering scams"—where victims are manipulated emotionally before being tricked into fake investments.

🌍 Global Scams on the Rise According to Chainalysis, revenue from these romance-style scams jumped 40% between 2023 and 2024. Many of them originate in Southeast Asia, but criminal syndicates now operate globally, even using human trafficking victims to carry out the scams under duress.

🕸️ ASIC Has Shut Down Over 10,000 Scam Websites Alongside the company closures, ASIC also took down digital platforms tied to these scams. The commission revealed it’s been shutting down over 130 scam websites per week, including fake investment portals, phishing pages, and fraudulent crypto sites. In just the second half of 2024 alone, ASIC removed over 2,460 scam websites—bringing the total to more than 10,000.

🛡️ Scam Losses Are Falling—But the Threat Remains Despite these aggressive measures, authorities warn that the threat remains high. ASIC compared the situation to fighting a hydra—"cut off one head and two more grow." Still, progress is being made: crypto scam losses in Australia dropped by 26% in 2024, and the number of reported scams fell by nearly 18% compared to the previous year.

Summary: Australia Takes the Lead in the War on Crypto Fraud As scammers become more advanced, so do the tools used to stop them. Australia’s actions are having an impact—but public awareness and vigilance remain essential weapons in this ongoing fight.

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