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Home News Alarming Trend: FTX Bankruptcy Scams on the Rise

Alarming Trend: FTX Bankruptcy Scams on the Rise

Daniela Kirova
Daniela Kirova
Daniela Kirova
Author:
Daniela Kirova
Writer
Daniela is a writer at Bankless Times, covering the latest news on the cryptocurrency market and blockchain industry. She has over 15 years of experience as a writer, having ghostwritten for several online publications in the financial sector.
February 3rd, 2023
  • Active third-party frauds and scams are attempting to take advantage of FTX customers.
  • PeckShield warned about con artists distributing the FTX 2.0 token in the crypto community

Bankrupt crypto exchange FTX warned former customers of third-party scams, alerting them not to give up passwords or provide money, Crypto News reported. FTX tweeted on Friday about con artists’ ongoing attempts to target customers, which include asking for payment, fees, or account passwords.

The firm stated they were aware of active third-party frauds and scams attempting to take advantage of FTX customers. They added that neither its agents nor its debtors would ever ask clients to pay fees or share their account passwords so they can get their money back.

An ongoing tendency

FTX advised customers who’ve been contacted by third parties to get in touch with FTX debtors by email to check if the messages are authentic.

This is not a new tendency; it’s been gaining momentum for a couple of months. Scammers were quick to pounce after the exchange collapsed and a number of instances of fraud were reported.

A fake video went viral in November. It featured FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried and claimed former customers would be compensated for their crypto holdings in an amount twice that of what they lost. The video led victims to a fake site that promised the giveaway in exchange for tokens.

Government warns of “revictimization”

At the end of last year, the financial regulator of the state of Oregon issued a warning about fraudsters trying to “revictimize” former customers of the exchange by pretending to be from the US Department of State and asking for their personal and financial information.

On January 20 this year, cybersecurity company PeckShield warned about con artists distributing FTX 2.0 in the crypto community. This is a token that comes from real FTX addresses.

Fraudsters pretending to work for FTX circulated the token. They airdropped it to Binance, Justin Sun, and KuCoin in an effort to make people believe it was an actual FTX airdrop.

PeckShield also warned that FTX 2.0 has a function that lets the person controlling the smart contract manipulate any account balance at will.

Contributors

Daniela Kirova
Writer
Daniela is a writer at Bankless Times, covering the latest news on the cryptocurrency market and blockchain industry. She has over 15 years of experience as a writer, having ghostwritten for several online publications in the financial sector.