Republican frontrunner Donald Trump’s U.S. presidential campaign and his MAGA supporters were targeted in several new crypto scams, a June 17 report by cybercrime disruption firm Netcraft revealed.
Trump Campaign, MAGA Supporters Targeted in Crypto Scams
The report states that the Trump campaign was targeted by fraudsters after the former U.S. president announced he would accept digital asset donations on May 21.
This was followed by a surge in real donations after his “hush money” trial conviction on May 31, overwhelming the campaign’s infrastructure.
After Donald Trump’s campaign announced it would accept cryptocurrency, the operators of a host of fraudulent websites have sought to hustle his supporters. https://t.co/5QEuUrgiZs
— WIRED (@WIRED) June 18, 2024
“Following these events, Netcraft has identified donation scams impersonating the Trump campaign, featuring dozens of malicious domains distributed in phishing and smishing campaigns,” the report reads. “With millions of emails and texts sent by the real campaign, scammers are exploiting recent interest to trick would-be donors into visiting a lookalike domain.”
The report further states that fraudulent crypto actors are rapidly adapting, using phishing payment systems that impersonate Coingate, as well as manipulating digital asset flows through platforms like Oxaplay and Plisio to steal funds.
In one instance, one such scam even went so far as to utilize A.I. based peer-to-peer messaging to make their scheme appear more legitimate to potential victims.
“This campaign reinforces the observation that criminals operating donation scams are quick to make use of current affairs to steal money from would-be donors and have no qualms about who or what they impersonate,” Netcraft highlights, noting that similar scams have arisen in the wake of the conflict in Gaza.
Tensions Grow Between Donald Trump And Joe Biden On Crypto
News of the alarming report comes just one week after blockchain analytics company Elliptic released its 2024 Horizon Scanning Report warning that AI could substantially advance crypto scams in the future.
AI-enhanced crypto crime is not seen as a mainstream threat just yet, but by monitoring behaviors we can get ahead of the curve and promote long-term sustainable innovation.
Read our latest blog https://t.co/cuoN0rpd62
Download the report https://t.co/HkRyGrurVG
— Elliptic (@elliptic) June 10, 2024
“In the context of crypto scams, these capabilities could potentially accelerate the more resource-intensive aspects of deploying and sustaining such activity,” Elliptic’s report claims.
Meanwhile, political tensions across the country are flaring as the race heats up between Trump and current U.S. President Joe Biden ahead of the November 2024 election.
Digital asset regulation has been one the key issues on the campaign trail so far, with Trump widely adopting a pro-crypto stance whereas Biden has largely favored increased regulatory measures.
The polarizing political candidates remain neck-and-neck in official polling as they fight for who will formally take the Oval Office within five months time.
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