Easy Prey29 Mars 2023

Crypto Fraud and Recovery Scams with Nick Smart

We are all being targeted by imposters on social media, websites, and dating sites. Once a person has been scammed, your information can be added to a database where criminals can purchase your data and then offer you "recovery assistance" from that scam. Today's guest is Nick Smart. Nick has 18 years experience as a professional Intelligence and Security Analyst working for government agencies and private companies as well as experience as a compliance officer.

Show Notes:

[0:57] - Nick describes his current role and his background in security.
[1:41] - Nick admits that he is generally very pessimistic and initially wasn't drawn to the crypto industry.
[2:55] - Why does crypto have a high reputation for fraud?
[4:15] - Once you are scammed, your information can be sold to more criminals and then you will be targeted again.
[6:52] - It is very easy to believe that you would get the money back if you act fast which is falling victim to a sense of urgency.
[8:01] - For some people, losing out on a few hundred dollars doesn't impact them much, but for others it could be the money they need to feed their family.
[10:18] - When something goes wrong, people look to those in authority for help, but law enforcement is catching up to how they can deal with the problem.
[12:29] - The laws surrounding crypto currency are very new and we don't know the future of recovery scams.
[13:43] - Nick explains "hackers for hire".
[15:13] - These scams aren't much different than others, but the way they find targets is unique.
[18:23] - Some people think crypto currency is completely anonymous. But that's not entirely correct.
[21:05] - The area of conversion is where we can try to find someone responsible for money laundering.
[22:29] - The block chains are useful in following and piecing together to find someone.
[24:35] - Crypto currency is hyper transparent which is not necessarily a bad thing.
[26:30] - KYC stands for Know Your Customer and Nick explains what that means to a financial institution.
[28:37] - If you've lost money through a crash or a scam and someone approaches you claiming they can help you get your money back, be skeptical.
[31:39] - Real asset recovery is not a fast process.
[35:13] - Individual cases and the experiences vary, but for the most part, block chains want to help.
[37:42] - It happens to the best of us. No one is immune.
[39:22] - There are more costs than just monetary.
[42:24] - It doesn't help the victim to stigmatize being scammed.
[44:01] - Nick shares ways to report crypto fraud.

Thanks for joining us on Easy Prey. Be sure to subscribe to our podcast on iTunes and leave a nice review.

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