• The FBI has issued a public service announcement warning about the utilization of play-to-earn games as part of a scheme to defraud users of funds stored in the form of cryptocurrency.
• Criminals are luring victims to participate in online play-to-earn games and then extracting the funds from their linked cryptocurrency wallets.
• The FBI offers recommendations to help users avoid this kind of fraud, such as segregating funds and verifying gains with third party block explorers.
FBI Warns About Cryptocurrency Theft Scams Using Play-to-Earn Games
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has released a Public Service Announcement (PSA) warning on the use of play-to-earn games as part of an elaborate scam aimed at stealing cryptocurrency funds from unsuspecting users.
How it Works
Criminals establish relationships with potential victims in order to gain their trust, and then lure them into participating in online play-to-earn games that offer rewards for their actions. These rewards are proportional to the amount of funds put into a linked cryptocurrency wallet, which incentivizes users to invest more money for greater returns. Players observe fake rewards appearing in their wallet but when they try to withdraw these rewards, criminals drain their wallets instead and demand additional funds before returning the stolen crypto.
Recommendations From The FBI
In its PSA, the FBI provides several tips for avoiding such scams including:
1. Segregate Funds
Users should maintain separate accounts for gaming purposes only and keep other funds away from those used for gaming – this reduces losses if someone drains your wallet unexpectedly.
2. Verify Gains With A Third Party Block Explorer
It is important to check any alleged gains using a third party block explorer so that you can be sure they are real and actually being received in your wallet.
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