As per a post that appeared on Reddit on September 22nd, scam artists are impersonating Bank of America (BoA) in order to deceive their victims. The post, titled ‘Fraud alert — ‘Bank of America’ just called,’ detailed the complexity of the attempt calling it ‘the most convincing scammer I’ve ever dealt with.’
As reported by Redditor MySonAteMyHomeWork, ‘I received a call from Bank of America requesting that I fill out a form for cryptocurrency purchased on Uphold.’
According to the Redditor, the caller also argued that BoA needed to check ‘whether or not I was buying crypto as a business or an individual, and that they’d be mailing a form for me to fill out. She knew my email address, date of birth, and the month I bought crypto from Uphold.’
In this case, the user felt something was wrong, so they decided to contact the bank directly and was told it was not them. The phone call likely saved the user from being dragged any further into the scammer’s trap. Still, many others have been less fortunate.
Crypto Scams Multiply
As per a blog post published in July by blockchain tracking and analytics provider Whale Alert, the reputation of numerous and different kinds of crypto scams has been increasing. The article notes that in 2020, criminals left with $24 million during the first half of this year alone.
Many of the scams mentioned by Whale Alert are not as intricate as the Bank of America one, asking for a simple webpage, a Bitcoin (BTC) address, and a budget for advertising. Authorities in Canada and the United States have warned people about crypto scams.
Many responded to the Reddit post by expressing further caution, advising people to take extra protective measures. As for MySonAteMyHomeWork, they urged others to be careful and always check what the scammers say as ‘it’s better to be safe than sorry.’
