CryptoRom, a subset of swindles involving pig butchering, is discreetly approaching Android and iOS users with the intention of tricking them out of their cryptocurrency holdings. The cyber security company Sophos released the findings on Monday. According to its analysis, crypto scammers are increasingly using Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies like ChatGPT to go over Google and Apple’s security precautions and prey on people in the cryptocurrency ecosystem.
In pig-butchering scams, con artists converse with potential victims, form a rapport of confidence, and then persuade them to invest in cryptocurrencies. These con artists hack into the victims’ digital wallets once they have fattened, and then they take the money.
As the term implies, bad actors create a love relationship with their victims before stealing their savings in crypto-roam scams.
The con artist got in touch with the victim on Tandem, a language-sharing app that has also been used for dating, and persuaded them to switch to WhatsApp to continue their communication. After receiving a lengthy message that was obviously produced in part by an AI chat tool employing a large language model (LLM), the victim started to become suspicious, according to the report.
Scammers are modifying their methods to use more advanced tools to complete their infamous missions.
CryptoRom hackers onboard their victims onto false apps that appear to be authentic crypto-related apps, rather than hacking into their victims’ wallets. Conversations are being maintained with the use of AI tools like ChatGPT.
Sophos has discovered a total of seven malicious apps that were offered on the Google Play Store and the Apple App Store.
These apps are simple to reuse and recycle. Although we’ve let Google and Apple know about these most recent apps, it’s probable that there will be more. According to Sean Gallagher, Principal Threat Researcher at Sophos, “they’re likely to develop additional techniques of initial and double extortion in the future. Today, they’re informing victims that their accounts have been hacked to extort extra money.
The Internet Crimes Complaint Centre (IC3) of the US FBI said that in 2022, bitcoin frauds climbed by 183% from 2021 to a total of $2.57 billion (approximately Rs. 21,270 crore) as of last year.
This is not the first time that reports concerning cryptocurrency scammers who abuse AI have surfaced in such astonishing numbers.
Back in May, Jimmy Su, the chief security officer of Binance, claimed that fraudsters were using AI deepfakes to compromise the security of cryptocurrency exchanges and Web3-related businesses.
Scammers’ chances of getting past the security of crypto platforms and stealing user funds grow if they are successful in making deep fakes of crypto investors.
In a recent study conducted by CertiK, a blockchain research firm, it was revealed that in April of this year, a remarkable sum of $103 million (equivalent to around Rs. 840 crore) was stolen due to vulnerabilities in cryptocurrency systems. Exit scams and flash loans have been the main ways that money is stolen in cryptocurrency crimes. According to CertiK, hackers and crypto fraudsters stole an estimated $429.7 million (approximately Rs. 3,510 crore) in the final four months of 2023.
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