UK prosecutor thinks an increase in crypto scams is inevitable

By: Michael Wilson

April 7, 2021 10:43 AM

Fraud cases linked to crypto is still less than 1% of total scams. according to a renowned UK prosecutor, the number is set to increase along with bitcoin and crypto market growth.

UK Crown Prosecution Services anticipates the number of Bitcoin and cryptocurrency linked scams to increase in the coming years. The CPS admits they are still limited for now.

According to the CPS, 86% of reported fraud are cyber related with the numbers rising in the past year by the outbreak of COVID-19 which pushed the world digital.

The London police data reveals that 27,187 cyber crime reports were made across the UK and Northern Ireland in space of one year between 2019 and 2020. Meanwhile, crypto related scams were 5,581 of the overall figure reported.

However, the reported number of total fraud cases in the same time frame amounted to 822,276. which suggest that bitcoin and cryptocurrencies is not being exploited by fraudsters just yet despite the recent surge in Bitcoin price and crypto market. While 3% linked to cyber crime, 0.6% of the overall fraud cases related to crypto.

Nonetheless, Bitcoin rise hasn't gone totally unnoticed. The flagship crypto started its rise from late December 2020, scams involving the use of crypto assets and Bitcoin (BTC) jumped 57% in the year.

Mark Hill, the CPS director of public prosecution warned about the promises of high return on investment which fraudster frequently used. Mark expects crypto related scams to increase.

The CPS director said:

"The use of high return on investment have been going on for decades, the numbers of cases coming in are still low now but I am predicting the numbers will increase."

London police identified key threats for 2021 including romance, payment diversion, investments, cards and online bank accounts fraud.