Because of the anonymity offered by digital currencies, scammers in Australia prefer to pay in digital currencies over credit cards.
According to a report According to The Sydney Morning Herald, $84 million of total losses was reported to ScamWatch in 2021. This figure is significantly higher than the $27million reported in 2020 and $19million in 2019.
According to the report, there is a growing trend towards scammers using crypto payments to target Australian citizens. The losses could be much higher than the quoted figure. These cybercrime victims don’t report their events to the government, while those who do report it to ScamWatch often report it on other government-backed websites.
Given the increase in Australian crypto scams year-on-year, the government has made targeted efforts to tighten its oversight. Exchanges for cryptocurrency The country is open to foreign companies. A good anti-money laundering (AML) system will be required in order to license exchanges.
“In March 2022, the Australian government began consultation on approaches for licensing digital currency exchanges and custody requirements for crypto assets,” said Delia Rickard, ACCC deputy chair “While ongoing, I am hopeful that this and other regulatory measures will slow the growth of cryptocurrency scams.”
Experts have advocated that the digital currency ecosystem participants should accept sensible regulations. AusPayNet, an Australian payments industry association, believes that all players in the financial services sector should be regulated in the exact same manner.
Andy White, the Chief Executive Officer of AusPayNet, says reputable exchanges want to be regulated and that a uniform regulation “will help every player in the ecosystem – the consumer can have more trust of dealing with a reputable exchange, as it is licensed, and banks will be able to better assess the exchanges.”
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