American government agency the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has released a new PSA warning consumers of a new scam, where fake “play-to-earn” mobile and online games are being used to steal cryptocurrency, reports Techcrunch.
The scam sees criminals contact victims and introduce them to a new game, which requires them to set up a cryptocurrency wallet, purchase cryptocurrency, and join a specific game app. Players will see fake rewards accumulate in the app based on the money stored in their wallet. However, when players stop depositing money into their wallets, criminals use a malicious program unknowingly installed with the game to drain the accumulated currency.
In some cases, the perpetrators then contact victims, instructing them to make additional payments in the form of taxes or fees to reclaim their funds in an attempt to extort further funds. The FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) has released a Public Service Announcement describing how these criminals contact victims online and introduce them to games where they can earn cryptocurrency rewards for completing certain activities.
Victims are then instructed to purchase cryptocurrency and create a crypto wallet to participate in the games. The criminals promise that the rewards increase as the victim stores more money in the wallet, but when the victims stop depositing funds, the criminals drain their wallets by enticing them with fake rewards. Moreover, the criminals will tell victims that they can recover their investments by paying additional taxes or fees, but this is just a ploy to scam them out of more money.
The FBI recommends that people remain vigilant and avoid investing in such games unless they are certain that the game is legitimate. They advise users to verify the credibility of the gaming app and the developer before investing any money. They also suggest that users should not disclose personal information online or send money to people they do not know.
Meanwhile, a new report by cybersecurity firm Kaspersky has revealed that cybercriminals distributed over 400,000 new malicious files every day in 2022, indicating a 5% increase from the previous year. Approximately 122 million malicious files were detected in 2022, up by 6 million from 2021. This highlights the need for increased cybersecurity measures to protect individuals and organizations from these threats.
FBI shared the following tips to help potential targets to defend themselves against such scams:
1. If you wish to participate in cryptocurrency-based gaming, create a unique wallet. This isolates your primary cryptocurrency holdings should you unknowingly grant illicit actors access to your gaming wallet.
2. Use a third-party blockchain explorer to independently check the balances of the addresses in your gaming wallet.
3. Periodically use a third-party token allowance checker to help you see which sites or apps you have inadvertently permitted to access funds in your wallet and revoke those permissions.
