On Thursday, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) issued a warning to the public regarding tokens falsely claiming an affiliation with the agency.
Authorities warn of token impersonation
The New York FBI urged the users on the Tron blockchain network to be cautious of encountering a token “purported to be from the FBI.” They shared a screenshot showing the phishing scam using the TRC-20 token standard.
The scammers provided seemingly FBI tokens arriving in users’ wallets, mandating the disclosure of personal details to avoid asset freezes, alleging anti-money laundering allegations.
The FBI stated, “If you receive a token from an account with the details below, do not provide any identifying information to any website associated with such a token.”
The message uses the same urgency in a call to action as most scams in crypto that steal billions each year. However, it is unclear how many users were affected.
Crypto scams surging, with billions lost
The FBI also guided users to its Internet Crime Complaint Center for reporting any suspicious activity.
The organization reported over 140,000 complaints on crypto scams in 2024 and losses worth $9.3 billion, which is 66% more than the previous year.
The report also highlighted the increasing cases of “pig butchering” schemes, long-running scams using romance and investment fraud, reporting more than $1 billion in a single year. The malicious agents would use fake profiles of women and build a rapport with the victims.
Once the relationship is established, they introduce investment plans and invite them to participate. They are made to transfer crypto and given fake proofs of investments and even shown the victims fake profits to encourage more investments. Once they secure the funds, they cut off contacts.
At other times, the indictment alleges, the perpetrators claimed emergencies, using the rapport.
FBI created token to catch scammers
The FBI created a fake artificial intelligence-related token in 2024 to catch fraudsters in the market. They created a “trap token,” called NexFundAI, that was designed to act as bait for the fraudsters engaged in crypto scam activities, including pump-and-dump schemes.
“The FBI is investigating fraudulent cryptocurrency investment platforms and companies,” the FBI said on its site.
Their undercover operation successfully charged at least 18 people caught trying to artificially inflate the token’s trading volume.
