{"id":381494,"date":"2025-03-11T16:15:45","date_gmt":"2025-03-11T10:45:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dripp.zone\/news\/california-shuts-down-26-crypto-scam-sites-tied-to-4-6-million-in-losses-crypto-news\/"},"modified":"2025-03-11T16:20:40","modified_gmt":"2025-03-11T10:50:40","slug":"california-shuts-down-26-crypto-scam-sites-tied-to-4-6-million-in-losses-crypto-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dripp.zone\/news\/california-shuts-down-26-crypto-scam-sites-tied-to-4-6-million-in-losses-crypto-news\/","title":{"rendered":"California Shuts Down 26 Crypto Scam Sites Tied to $4.6 Million in Losses &#8211; Crypto News"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"position:relative;overflow:visible;font-size:1.2em;line-height:1.58\">\n<p class=\"font-meta-serif-pro scene:font-noto-sans scene:text-base scene:md:text-lg font-normal text-lg md:text-xl md:leading-9 tracking-px text-body gg-dark:text-neutral-100\">California authorities ramped up their fight against crypto fraud, taking down 26 fraudulent crypto websites and revealing over $4.6 million in consumer losses in 2024.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-meta-serif-pro scene:font-noto-sans scene:text-base scene:md:text-lg font-normal text-lg md:text-xl md:leading-9 tracking-px text-body gg-dark:text-neutral-100\">In a Monday statement, the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation, or DFPI, said it identified seven new scam types with the help of its \u201cCrypto Scam Tracker.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-meta-serif-pro scene:font-noto-sans scene:text-base scene:md:text-lg font-normal text-lg md:text-xl md:leading-9 tracking-px text-body gg-dark:text-neutral-100\">The tracker processed over 2,600 complaints, exposing fake Bitcoin mining, crypto job scams, and crypto gaming frauds, along with misleading AI investment schemes.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-meta-serif-pro scene:font-noto-sans scene:text-base scene:md:text-lg font-normal text-lg md:text-xl md:leading-9 tracking-px text-body gg-dark:text-neutral-100\">\u201cAs crypto scams evolve, DFPI\u2019s Crypto Scam Tracker helps empower consumers to stay vigilant,\u201d DFPI Commissioner KC Mohseni said in a <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/dfpi.ca.gov\/press_release\/dfpi-strengthens-partnership-with-ca-department-of-justice-to-stop-crypto-scams-and-prevent-consumer-financial-loss\/\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"sc-adb616fe-0 bJsyml\">statement<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-meta-serif-pro scene:font-noto-sans scene:text-base scene:md:text-lg font-normal text-lg md:text-xl md:leading-9 tracking-px text-body gg-dark:text-neutral-100\">In a separate <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/oag.ca.gov\/news\/press-releases\/attorney-general-bonta-protects-californians-shutting-down-42-fake\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"sc-adb616fe-0 bJsyml\">report<\/a>, the California Department of Justice, or DOJ, said it took down 42 scam websites operated by international fraudsters, uncovering $6.5 million in losses from promises of high returns.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-meta-serif-pro scene:font-noto-sans scene:text-base scene:md:text-lg font-normal text-lg md:text-xl md:leading-9 tracking-px text-body gg-dark:text-neutral-100\">The rise of \u201c<a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/decrypt.co\/219668\/pig-butchering-crypto-romance-scams-up-85-times-since-2020\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"sc-adb616fe-0 bJsyml\">pig-butchering<\/a>\u201d scams has fueled the surge in fraud, with the DOJ\u2019s report pointing to a troubling increase in these schemes.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-meta-serif-pro scene:font-noto-sans scene:text-base scene:md:text-lg font-normal text-lg md:text-xl md:leading-9 tracking-px text-body gg-dark:text-neutral-100\">In a pig-butchering scheme, fraudsters build false relationships with victims via social media or dating apps, only to later manipulate them into investing in non-existent cryptocurrency projects.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-meta-serif-pro scene:font-noto-sans scene:text-base scene:md:text-lg font-normal text-lg md:text-xl md:leading-9 tracking-px text-body gg-dark:text-neutral-100\">When the victims try to withdraw their funds, they\u2019re left empty-handed.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-meta-serif-pro scene:font-noto-sans scene:text-base scene:md:text-lg font-normal text-lg md:text-xl md:leading-9 tracking-px text-body gg-dark:text-neutral-100\">\u201cScammers can use deception and emotional manipulation to take advantage of people looking for connection,\u201d said California Attorney General Rob Bonta.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-meta-serif-pro scene:font-noto-sans scene:text-base scene:md:text-lg font-normal text-lg md:text-xl md:leading-9 tracking-px text-body gg-dark:text-neutral-100\">Blockchain analysis firm Chainalysis <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.chainalysis.com\/blog\/2024-pig-butchering-scam-revenue-grows-yoy\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow external noopener\" class=\"sc-adb616fe-0 bJsyml\">reported<\/a> last month that there\u2019s been a nearly 40% increase in pig butchering scam revenue compared to 2023, with a nearly 210% increase in victim deposits.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-meta-serif-pro scene:font-noto-sans scene:text-base scene:md:text-lg font-normal text-lg md:text-xl md:leading-9 tracking-px text-body gg-dark:text-neutral-100\">This form of fraud alone accounts for a large portion of the $9.9 billion in total scam-related crypto losses tracked by Chainalysis in 2024.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-meta-serif-pro scene:font-noto-sans scene:text-base scene:md:text-lg font-normal text-lg md:text-xl md:leading-9 tracking-px text-body gg-dark:text-neutral-100\">In the report, Elad Fouks, head of fraud products at Chainalysis, said generative AI could be used to amplify and scale up crypto fraud and crimes.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-meta-serif-pro scene:font-noto-sans scene:text-base scene:md:text-lg font-normal text-lg md:text-xl md:leading-9 tracking-px text-body gg-dark:text-neutral-100\">Fouks said GenAI generates realistic fake content, including \u201cwebsites and listings\u201d used to power investment scams and purchase scams, making these attacks \u201cmore convincing and harder to detect.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-meta-serif-pro scene:font-noto-sans scene:text-base scene:md:text-lg font-normal text-lg md:text-xl md:leading-9 tracking-px text-body gg-dark:text-neutral-100\"><i>Edited by <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/decrypt.co\/author\/stacy\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"sc-adb616fe-0 bJsyml\">Stacy Elliott<\/a>.<\/i><\/p>\n<div class=\"my-4 border-b border-decryptGridline\">\n<div class=\"text-start p-8 md:py-12 md:px-12 max-w-prose relative\"><span class=\"border-t-4 border-l-4 w-4 h-4 md:border-t-[6px] md:border-l-[6px] md:w-6 md:h-6 border-decryptPurple dark:border-decryptNeon gg-dark:border-cc-pink-2 absolute top-4 left-4 md:top-6 md:left-6\"\/><span class=\"border-t-4 border-l-4 w-4 h-4 md:border-t-[6px] md:border-l-[6px] md:w-6 md:h-6 border-decryptPurple dark:border-decryptNeon gg-dark:border-cc-pink-2 absolute rotate-180 bottom-4 right-4 md:bottom-6 md:right-6\"\/><\/p>\n<h3 class=\"font-akzidenz-grotesk font-bold text-xl md:text-3xl md:text-center gg-dark:text-white\">Daily Debrief<!-- --> Newsletter<\/h3>\n<p>Start every day with the top news stories right now, plus original features, a podcast, videos and more.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>California authorities ramped up their fight against crypto fraud, taking down 26 fraudulent crypto websites and revealing over $4.6 million in consumer losses in 2024. In a Monday statement, the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation, or DFPI, said it identified seven new scam types with the help of its \u201cCrypto Scam Tracker.\u201d The [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":381499,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[230,225,221,227,226,228,229,60,223,224,222],"class_list":["post-381494","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cryptocurrency","tag-brave","tag-coinbase","tag-crypto","tag-decentralised","tag-decentralized","tag-decentralized-exchange","tag-erc-20","tag-featured","tag-meme-coin","tag-robinhood","tag-solana"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dripp.zone\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/381494","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dripp.zone\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dripp.zone\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dripp.zone\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dripp.zone\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=381494"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dripp.zone\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/381494\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":381500,"href":"https:\/\/dripp.zone\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/381494\/revisions\/381500"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dripp.zone\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/381499"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dripp.zone\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=381494"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dripp.zone\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=381494"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dripp.zone\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=381494"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}