A Singaporean policeman has just saved a victim of an elaborate Bitcoin machine scam

"Do not fall into the trap of crooks who impersonate Chinese officials and ask victims to transfer money using bitcoin machines."

Also:

"No government agency in Singapore will require payment over the phone or on other social messaging platforms, such as WeChat or Facebook, or will require you to remit money to unnamed people. They would not ask for personal banking information, such as your bank pbadwords online. "

Scammers have published fake authorities alerts next to a Bitcoin computer in a mall

Scammers are exploiting the fact that it's easier to get people doing bad things to do stupid things if they think you're working for the government.

This 49-year-old man is reportedly demolishing posters near a distributor of bitcoins. Witnesses called the police to report vandalism in the mall. But during the police investigation, they discovered that the posters were part of a complex and malicious scam.

Claiming to be an alert on bitcoin from the authorities, the posters drew their target to call a phone number. When the 49-year-old man called, the fraudsters imitated the Chinese authorities. They reportedly told him that he was under investigation for a transnational crime.

Then, they ordered the man to transfer a total of 1,000 USD ($ 734) of bitcoins into their wallet twice. The victim agreed and sent them his bitcoin.

While police were monitoring the area for more information, another potential victim, a 32-year-old man this time, was about to call the number written on the front of the poster. 39; stop.

Singaporean authorities actively control cryptographic scams in their country

The Singapore Central Bank reported a fraudulent bitcoin website last September, and authorities issued cryptographic scam warning reports in January.

In January, the Singaporean government warned against a hoax claiming that the Republic of Singapore would formally adopt cryptocurrency.

It seems that the scammers have discovered that they can exploit the trust that people have in the government. In an environment as new and unknown as cryptocurrency, it is more likely that people will be cautious with entrepreneurs they do not really know and that they immediately trust someone who, at their opinion, works for the government.

Between September and November of this year, $ 78,000 worth of cryptocurrencies held by investors living in Singapore were stolen by fraudsters.

As the technology sector thrives and Singapore's highly-wired economy is a home for cryptocurrency, the government and financial authorities have been quick in cracking down on cryptocurrency fraud.