The new campaign introduces a withdrawal warning message designed to deter users from sending their cryptocurrency to fraudulent entities. This message serves as a safeguard, helping to protect users from the potential financial losses associated with such scams.
Binance, in collaboration with law enforcement agencies, is launching a campaign to combat scams by issuing targeted warnings to potential victims, as announced in a March 3 blog post from the company. Dubbed the "Joint Anti-Scam Campaign," the project was initially rolled out in Hong Kong and is now set to be extended to other jurisdictions. This initiative is part of Binance's ongoing commitment to protecting its users from fraudulent activities.
According to the company's post, Binance collaborated with the Hong Kong Police Force's Cyber Security and Technology Crime Bureau to create an "alert and crime prevention message" specifically for Hong Kong residents. As part of the pilot project, when users attempted to make withdrawals, they were presented with warning messages that provided them with information about common scams and tips on how to avoid them.
For four weeks, Binance monitored customers' reactions to the messages. It found that approximately 20.4% of users either chose not to make the withdrawal or took the extra step to investigate whether the transaction could be a scam.
The warning included statistics on the number of scams that occurred in Hong Kong in 2001 and recommended resources such as Scameter, the Anti Deception Coordination Center, Cyber Defender, and Binance Verify. It also reminded users that Binance will never call them directly.
Binance has declared its pilot program a success and is now looking to collaborate with law enforcement in other jurisdictions to create tailored warning messages for customers outside of Hong Kong. This is in response to the growing threat of social engineering and phishing scams, which have become increasingly common in the crypto space.
In February, for instance, scammers created a fake version of the ETHDenver convention website, which they used to dupe users into sending their crypto to a malicious contract. It is estimated that over $300,000 worth of crypto was stolen in this scam. Similarly, an influential nonfungible token promoter had $300,000 worth of CryptoPunks removed from his wallet after he was tricked into interacting with a phishing site.
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