- Operation Heracles has taken down more than 1,400 fraudulent sites luring victims into fake crypto investments.
- Fraudsters used AI to mass-produce convincing websites and fake profitable returns
- Despite the withdrawals, no arrests have been made; more than 860,000 visit attempts followed the closure
Police recently took down more than 1,400 websites that were scamming people. This is what the public prosecutor’s office in Karlsruhe (Germany) says, which announced “Operation Heracles” in a press release.
Operation Heracles was a joint effort led by German, Bulgarian law enforcement and Europol. The sites were part of a large network of financial and investment scams advertised via social media.
Victims were asked to create accounts on these websites and “invest” – mainly in cryptocurrencies. Cryptocurrency scams are reaching unprecedented heights as the deregulated environment is ripe for bad actors. It is therefore important to be careful.
Fake news
They were then shown their balances and made to believe they were generating significant returns. They were also allowed to withdraw small amounts of money – a trick to make them believe the sites were legitimate and entice them to deposit even more. When victims attempted to withdraw most (or all) of their funds, they were first told that they would have to deposit even more money, to pay different withdrawal fees or taxes.
If they didn’t realize what was happening and tried to withdraw their funds again, the sites would go offline.
Birgit Rodolphe, executive director for money laundering treatment and prevention at BaFin, said scammers used artificial intelligence to create websites “like on an assembly line.”
The scam was quite widespread and successful, it seems. Since the sites were taken down and defaced on October 3, there have been more than 860,000 attempted visits, demonstrating just how popular these fake trading platforms were.
We don’t know exactly how many people were tricked into “investing” by scam, or how much money was lost this way. Unfortunately, no one was arrested in connection with this operation, so it can be assumed that the miscreants will return to their usual activities sooner or later.
If you are looking to invest, be sure to double-check the platforms you use and do not trust recommendations made on Telegram and other social platforms without proper verifications.
Via Cybernews
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