Yahya 
According a recent Australian Federal Police ( AFP) analysis, younger people are the main victims of over $122 million (AUD 180 million) lost by Australians to bitcoin scams in the last 12 months. Published on August 28, the study revealed that investment theft losses were $269 million (AUD 382 million), of which over half of these losses—47%—were connected to cryptocurrencies.
Particularly in respect to the age of the victims, AFP Assistant Commissioner Richard Chin underlined the alarming trend the figures revealed. About sixty percent of those impacted were under the age of fifty, which runs counter to the general belief that older Australians are more likely to fall for frauds.
With “pig butchering” and deepfakes the most common types of fraud, the survey found that fraudsters usually use modern technological tools. Pig butchering scams include people building personal connections with their prey on social media or other internet platforms before enticing them into bogus investment schemes. Conversely, deepfakes use artificial intelligence (AI) to create convincing audio and video content—often incorporating well-known public personalities like Tesla CEO Elon Musk—to support false investment possibilities.
Chin stated that the AFP’s figures most likely just reveal the surface as many victims could be unaware they have been misled or may be too ashamed to document the incident. Emphasizing a key piece of advice, he stated, “if an investment opportunity sounds too good to be true, then it probably is.” Chin further said that pilfers of pilfers of stolen money from these businesses might maybe encourage human exploitation or money laundering in illegal narcotics or other forms.
Given losses thus far in 2024 totaling more than $68 million (AUD 100 million), investment scams remain the most major financial danger noted on the Scamwatch website run by the Australian Government. Fascinatingly, Scamwatch data show that most victims of these bogus schemes fell into the over-50 age group, therefore contradicting AFP results.
Authorities and financial professionals are urging Australians to use cautious and challenge offers of investment that seem too enticing given the rising frequency of crypto frauds.
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