SOPHSophon Price

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has warned investors of a sharp rise in sophisticated AI-powered crypto scams, dismantling 3,106 such schemes in the last financial year—a nearly 30% increase. These scams, part of over 19,400 online frauds taken down, increasingly use deepfake videos of public figures and fake news sites to lure victims into fraudulent crypto platforms. Criminals create interconnected networks of deception, using AI to fabricate social proof and even show fake initial profits to build trust before victims lose their funds to overseas syndicates. High-profile figures like Prime Minister Anthony Albanese are commonly impersonated, leading to millions in losses. ASIC advises rigorous verification, including checking its professional registers and the Moneysmart Investor Alert list, as AI makes scams harder to detect.