Crypto job scams in Australia cost victims USD $9.3 billion

An investigation by Infoblox Threat Intel has revealed the operational methods of recruitment scams targeting Australians.

The investigation, titled "Telegram Tango: Dancing with a Scammer", provides a detailed account of a threat researcher's interactions with a recruitment scam conducted via the messaging platform Telegram.

According to Infoblox Threat Intel, recruitment scams are increasing in frequency and sophistication, and it is becoming increasingly important to understand the criminal operations involved.

The researcher behind the investigation received an unsolicited message via Telegram from an individual calling themselves Arabella, who offered a remote job requiring no experience. The message included branding from "Corner Office Consultants" and a link to the domain cornerofficeconsultants[.]com, which belongs to a legitimate business.

However, Arabella was not employed by the real company and was operating as part of a scam.

Over several days, the researcher remained in contact with multiple Telegram accounts, each providing instructions to perform apparently useless online tasks.

The scam involved repeated encouragement to avoid initial payment requests made in cryptocurrency to supposedly continue their remote employment.

After the initial interaction, the researcher was introduced to another supposed employee, Maria, who provided job details related to Marble Media, another real business.

However, the website provided by the scammers, marblemediaseo[.]cc, was a lookalike designed to mislead potential victims.

The investigation found that the tasks assigned to the researcher were monotonous and unproductive, involving routine actions such as clicking "Starting" and "Submit". After following these simple tasks, the researcher was told that in order to continue with the job, it was necessary to deposit money.

During the interaction, the researcher observed that some of the responses from the scammers were nearly immediate as well as lengthy, while others were short but delayed. This led to the suspicion that the scam operation utilised a combination of human and artificial intelligence-generated messaging.

It was unclear if there was a process for transitioning between automated and human interaction.

"The interactions likely included a mix of AI-generated and human responses. Some responses were nearly instant and lengthy, while others took longer even if the message was shorter. The researcher suspected that some responses may be automated, but it was not clear whether there was a process to hand off the interaction to a human," the investigation reported.

The researcher ultimately managed to deceive the scammers and withdraw some money, at which point the scammers ended the interaction.

This outcome was described as offering both educational insights into scam operations and a small moral victory.

The broader findings of the investigation reinforce that cryptocurrency-related recruitment scams remain financially lucrative for perpetrators. Reporting from 2024 estimates that consumers lost approximately USD $9.3 billion to crypto scams.

"Scams are a multi-billion-dollar business, maturing in their ability to target and take advantage of victims every day. This makes it crucial to understand the criminal operations in detail," the investigation notes.

Infoblox Threat Intel has stated that this examination forms part of an ongoing series of reports into scams operated by groups globally.