Some new online investment scams are no longer impersonating real companies in phishing attacks, but rather the company name, registration details and promised high return rates are entirely fake.
“The risks here are quite different,” explained Robert Duncan, vice president of product strategy at Netcraft. “The money involved in a successful campaign might range up from [thousands of dollars] from each victim, and the victim intentionally sends money in connection with the scam. Depending on the jurisdiction, banks may treat this quite differently to authorized payments made in other types of scams.”
Duncan added that online investment scams pose a significant threat to consumers and institutions, albeit with varying scale and impact. While individual consumers often bear the brunt of financial losses resulting from these fraudulent schemes, institutions may face risks such as reputational damage if impersonated or their stakeholders are affected, said Duncan.
“In some jurisdictions, this is also changing, with an increased expectation that banks are on-the-hook for losses in such scams,” explained Duncan. “Collaboration with regulatory bodies and industry partners is essential to disrupting this threat.”
In a March 13 blog post, Netcraft researchers pointed out that online investment scams have emerged as a global threat. These scams promise very high returns with no risks attached, and often claim to deliver “once-in-a-lifetime” opportunities for investors to make guaranteed returns overnight. The reseachers noted that in claiming to trade in forex, cryptocurrency, or other high-risk assets, the unsuspecting investor (victim) needs only to make an initial payment to take advantage. These guarantees are meaningless, the claimed investment is a sham, and the victim loses their money.
The numbers show that these scams have been growing. In
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