Australia Smashes 95 Shady Crypto and Romance Scams!

ASIC and Federal Court Team Up to Take Down Fraudulent Companies

Holy smokes, Australia just dropped the hammer on 95 companies that were pulling off some seriously shady crypto investment and romance scams! These crooks were hiding behind the mask of legit businesses, but the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) wasn't having any of it.

In a bold move against crypto crime, ASIC announced on April 8 that the Federal Court gave the green light to shut these scam artists down. No more fooling around!

The court said, "Enough is enough!" and decided to wind up these companies on just and equitable grounds. ASIC dug deep and found that most of these shady operations were registered with fake info. Can you believe it?

The watchdog's got a hunch that these companies were part of a slick, coordinated scam operation, especially those nasty "pig butchering" schemes. You know, where scammers cozy up to you online, gain your trust, and then trick you into pouring your hard-earned cash into their fake crypto platforms. It's a total betrayal!

Justice Angus Stewart, who was all over this case, called the evidence for shutting down these companies "overwhelming." He said there was no way anyone could trust their conduct and management. It's a no-brainer!

In a March 21 ruling, the court took a closer look at 17 of these firms and found a clear pattern of pig butchering scams linked to sketchy websites and apps. It's like a bad movie plot!

The Federal Court put Catherine Conneely and Thomas Birch of Cor Cordis in charge as joint liquidators of these 95 firms. They dove right in and found that only three of these companies had any assets. The rest? Nada! They recommended pulling the plug on the other 92 right away.

Since then, the liquidators have been flooded with nearly 1,500 claims from alleged victims across 14 countries, including Australia, the US, Cameroon, Ghana, India, Nepal, the Philippines, and France. The reported losses? A staggering $35.8 million! It's mind-blowing!

ASIC believes these companies' websites and mobile apps were designed to look like the real deal, tricking users into thinking their money was being invested properly. But it was all a big lie! The platforms were fake, and the victims' money was funneled straight into the scammers' pockets.

ASIC Deputy Chair Sarah Court said, "These companies were set up to look legit, but it's all smoke and mirrors." She warned that "scammers will use every trick in the book to steal your money and personal info." It's a wild west out there!

ASIC's not messing around. They've been taking down about 130 scam websites every week! To date, they've shut down over 10,000 malicious sites, including more than 7,200 fake investment platforms and 1,500 phishing scams. They're on a roll!

And that's not all. Last month, ASIC went after crypto ATM operators too, warning that those who don't follow anti-money laundering rules will face the music. AUSTRAC's been seeing a spike in suspicious transactions and scams tied to these machines, so they're calling for tighter oversight on Australia's crypto ATM network. It's a full-on crackdown!