Cryptocurrency scam: Over 95 per cent of crypto-associated frauds reported on WazirX between October 2021 and March 2022 were based outside of the Blockchain ecosystem, the exchange said in a report today (May 17, 2022). Majority of these scams were traditional money market scams.
According to the second edition of its bi-annual WazirX Transparency Report, 40 percent of the frauds reported were ponzi schemes and social engineering scams. Twenty five percent frauds were related to impersonation and further 25 percent were phising/airdrop scams.
The report provides an overview of initiatives and partnerships that the company took in the last 6 months to safeguard investors.
The findings suggest an increase in the number of accounts getting locked due to legal action from the company in comparison to the last report.
Commenting on the report, WazirX CEO and founder Nischal Shetty said, “The insights of the report indicate that even now the vast majority of scams are due to misinformation. They occur due to lack of awareness amongst users and indicate a requirement of large scale education and awareness programs to safeguard user interests.”
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WazirX Transparency Report Highlights
- Improvement in average turnaround time at 22 minutes, although recommended duration is 48 to 72 hours, as per IT Act, 2000.
- 952 queries were by Indian Law Enforcement Agencies , whereas the Foreign LEAs made 71 requests. 100% of these were criminal in nature.
- 17,218 accounts were locked, indicating a 19% increase from April – September, 2021. 73% of these locked accounts were due to requests initiated directly by the customers and 27% were locked by WazirX’s legal team due to ongoing investigations by LEA or payment disputes.
Aritra Sarkhel, Director of Public Policy at WazirX said, “We are taking active steps to ensure smooth transitioning of our users to Web3.0 while providing user centric experience and data privacy.” We have also been conducting trainings for law enforcement establishments across the country to make sure we support them to identify and track any such frauds.”
(Crypto and other virtual digital assets are unregulated in India. Investing in them is risky. Please consult your financial advisor before investing in cryptocurrency)
