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World Anti-Scam Organization, Bern (2026)

19/03/2025

What is Vishing?

Vishing—or Phishing—is the use of fraudulent phone calls to trick people into giving away money or personal information. It’s a new name for an old problem—phone scams. Phishing often involves a criminal pretending to be a representative of a new organization, company, or government agency. You might be asked if you want to buy an extended warranty, offered a “free” vacation, told your computer is infected and you need to buy antivirus software, or asked to donate to a charity.

Coronavirus and Phishing

Scammers and fraudsters are trying to take advantage of the coronavirus pandemic by pretending to be from a government or health agency, hospital, or insurance company. To appear more legitimate, some calls may use fake caller IDs.

Learn to Identify Phishing

Scammers, or “phishing scammers,” often exaggerate or make up prizes, products, or services. They then ask for your credit card number or other personal information to get you to pay for something or more. Look out for:
1. Offers from companies you have no business dealings with and/or have never heard of
2. Notifications of winning a prize in a contest you have not entered
3. Unrealistic promises of monetary rewards
4. Pressure to make an immediate decision to satisfy the caller’s needs, which may include:
1) Money
2) Financial account information
3) Personal information
4) Organizational information, such as contact names and information of college classmates or co-workers
5. Threats of consequences such as fines or penalties if you do not provide money or information
6. Unprofessional, hostile, or even obscene language in the call
7. Unsolicited calls to help you with debts, unpaid taxes, or previous fraud cases

Learn more about the signs of these and other scams at Federal Trade Commission (FTC): Phone Scams.

Protect Yourself from Phishing
If the caller claims to be from an institution you do business with, such as your bank, and they ask for personal information (account number, Social Security number, etc.), hang up, find the institution’s phone number, and call them. If the call you receive is a scam, report it!

Don’t pay for prizes or incentives offered over the phone.

The IRS will never ask for your debit or credit card number over the phone, or request immediate payment using a specific method, such as a prepaid gift card, debit card, or wire transfer. The IRS will usually contact you first by U.S. mail.

Do not send money or give personal information (such as credit card numbers and expiration dates, bank account numbers, date of birth, or Social Security number) in response to unsolicited calls from unfamiliar companies or people you don’t know.

Do not trust caller ID. Phone numbers and caller ID can be spoofed. The University of Michigan, government offices, and other businesses and institutions have received reports of spoofed phone numbers.

Add your phone number to the National Do Not Call Registry to reduce unwanted sales calls.

06/03/2025

Online Investment Scam Investigation

"Low risk, high return" and "must win news" are used to set traps for most investment laymen, and false messages are sent through online social platforms, discussion forums or instant messaging software.
The victims are skeptical at first, but when the scammers forge more and more profitable transaction records, they induce the victims to participate and win, and then lose contact after investing funds.

Common investment fraud methods
Showing a life of ostentation
Scammers make new friends through social platforms and discussion forums, and often upload photos of their ostentatious lives, such as luxury cars, watches, and bags, to arouse people's curiosity and seek prey, thereby increasing their credibility

Pretending to be an investment consultant / fund manager
Scammers claim to be graduates from famous overseas universities, have rich experience in investing in virtual assets, precious metals or foreign exchange, or work as consultants for major banks, investment banks, and securities fund companies.

Recommending "penny stocks"
Recommending "penny stocks" and claiming that they can soar in a short period of time. When the victim buys a large number of designated stocks and the stock price is pushed up, the scammers immediately sell the stocks that were previously low, causing the victim's "penny stocks" to plummet in price.

Fake investment websites/investment applications
Trick victims into installing fake websites or investment applications, where the transactions and returns displayed may also be fake information, or the victim's bank account information may be deceived

Refuse to cash out/system failure
When victims use fake investment websites/investment applications and deposit remittances, if they want to cash out, the scammers will increase the amount of funds deposited by charging high fees, or delay payment due to system failure

Ambiguous relationship (also known as "pig killing")
The scammers start with emotions to gain trust, establish ambiguous or online relationships with victims, and lure victims into investment scams.

25/02/2025

Investment scams, romance scams, and online shopping scams combined accounted for more than 70% of reported losses from social media scams in 2021. Despite this, social media is home to a wide variety of fraudulent activity, and new scams are constantly emerging. To protect you and your family when using social media, consider the following precautions:

1. Adjust privacy settings: Regularly review and adjust your privacy settings on social media platforms to limit exposure to your posts and personal information.

2. Opt out of targeted ads: Explore options to opt out of targeted ads available on various platforms.

3. Verify: If a friend sends you a message urging urgent financial assistance, consider contacting them by phone before taking any action. Their account may have been compromised, especially if they request payment via unconventional methods such as cryptocurrency, gift cards, or wire transfers.

4. Be cautious in new connections: If a person is eagerly seeking friendship or romance on social media, be cautious. Familiarize yourself with the tactics of romance scams and never send money to someone you haven't met in person.

5. Research before you buy: Before buying online, research the company extensively by searching its name and terms like "scam" or "complaint" to ensure it is legitimate.

For a comprehensive guide on identifying, avoiding and reporting scams, as well as steps to recover your money if you've been scammed, visit world-anti-scam-organization.org/

25/02/2025

Social media is a gold mine for scammers

Social media has become seamlessly integrated into our lives, serving as a means of connecting, socializing, shopping, and entertaining ourselves. However, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has uncovered a worrying trend - social media is increasingly becoming a hotbed for scams and fraudulent activity. Surprisingly, more than a quarter of scam victims in 2021 said it all started with an ad, post, or message on a social media platform.

The data paints a grim picture, showing that scammers have had unparalleled success on social media in 2021 compared to any other avenue. Astonishingly, more than 95,000 people disclosed losses totaling approximately $770 million to fraud initiated through social media channels that year. These losses account for approximately 25% of all fraud losses reported in 2021 and represent an 18-fold increase compared to losses reported in 2017. While the surge in reports spans all age groups, individuals between the ages of 18 and 39 have been particularly affected and are more than twice as likely to lose money to these scams in 2021 compared to older adults.

Social media is a gold mine for scammers, providing a cost-effective way to reach billions of people around the world. Creating fake identities is a breeze, and scammers can even hijack existing profiles to defraud unsuspecting “friends.” Furthermore, scammers take advantage of the vast amounts of personal information shared on these platforms to fine-tune their strategies. The tools available to advertisers on social media platforms allow scammers to systematically target individuals with deceptive ads based on details such as age, interests, and previous purchases. Not surprisingly, investment scams, particularly those involving fabricated cryptocurrency ventures, have become a major focus for scammers, marked by a significant increase in reports. More than half of those who suffered losses from investment scams in 2021 said the scam originated on social media. Reports confirm that scammers use social media platforms to peddle fake investment opportunities, even connecting with individuals under the guise of friendship to coerce them into investing. Despite promises of lucrative returns, victims often find themselves empty-handed.

After investment scams, romance scams rank second in terms of profitability on social media. Losses from romance scams have skyrocketed in recent years, with more than a third of victims attributing the scam to Facebook or Instagram. These scams usually start with a seemingly harmless friend request from a stranger, followed by a charming conversation that eventually leads to a request for money.

25/02/2025

Operation BELENOS II: Customs seizes more than €2.7 million in crackdown on illicit financial flows

In November 2024, customs seized more than 500 cash movements across Europe in a massive operation. Operation BELENOS II, led by French customs authorities, aims to combat illicit financial flows linked to money laundering, terrorist financing and organized crime. More than €2.7 million in cash, gold and jewellery were seized during the operation, and further inspections are expected to increase the amount seized.

25/02/2025

Damian Williams, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced in December that ALEXANDER MASHINSKY, founder and former CEO of Celsius Network LLC and its affiliated entities (collectively, “Celsius”), pleaded guilty to one count of commodities fraud and one count of securities fraud in connection with two fraud schemes at Celsius, the cryptocurrency industry’s so-called “bank.” In the first scheme, MASHINSKY misled Celsius’ customers about core aspects of the company he founded, including Celsius’ success and profitability and the nature of Celsius’ investments using customer funds. In the second scheme, MASHINSKY illegally manipulated the price of Celsius’ proprietary crypto token, CEL, while secretly selling his own CEL tokens at artificially inflated prices. As part of his guilty plea, MASHINSKY agreed to forfeit more than $48 million in proceeds from his illegal schemes. Today, MASHINSKY pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge John G. Colter.

Celsius is a crypto-asset platform that, among other services, allows its customers to earn returns on crypto-assets in the form of weekly “rewards” payments, obtain loans using crypto-assets as collateral, and custody crypto-assets. Celsius bills itself as the “safest place for cryptocurrencies” and urges potential customers to “unbank” their crypto-assets by transferring them to Celsius. Celsius’ primary public offering is its “Earn” program, through which Celsius offers services to deploy customers’ crypto-assets to generate investment returns. In addition to the Earn program, Celsius also offers a “custody” program and a “lending” program for retail investors, which allow customers to obtain retail loans in exchange for submitting their crypto-assets to Celsius as collateral.

MASHINSKY marketed Celsius directly to retail customers in the United States and abroad. During his tenure as Celsius CEO, MASHINSKY repeatedly and publicly made false statements about core aspects of Celsius’ business and financial condition in order to induce retail customers to provide Celsius with crypto-assets and continue to use Celsius’ services. MASHINSKY misrepresented, among other things, the security of Celsius’s yield-generating activities, Celsius’ profitability, the long-term sustainability of Celsius’s high rates of return, and the risks of depositing crypto assets with Celsius.

As MASHINSKY falsely portrayed Celsius as a safe and reliable institution, Celsius’s customer base grew exponentially. Many of these customers were retail investors, not large institutions. By around the fall of 2021, Celsius had grown into one of the world’s largest crypto platforms, purportedly holding approximately $25 billion in assets at its peak.

MASHINSKY and others working at Celsius also orchestrated a years-long scheme to mislead customers and market participants about the market value of and interest in its proprietary crypto token, CEL. They did this by manipulating the price of CEL by having Celsius spend hundreds of millions of dollars to purchase CEL on the open market with the intent to artificially support and inflate the price of CEL. At various times during Mashinsky’s tenure, Mashinsky and his co-conspirators also caused Celsius to use its own customer deposits to fund these market purchases of CEL in order to prop up the price of CEL, without disclosing this fact to Celsius’ customers.

Without Celsius’ aggressive and illegal price manipulation, the price of CEL would have fallen significantly. As Celsius Chief Revenue Officer Roni Cohen-Pavon, who previously pleaded guilty to illegally manipulating the price of CEL, wrote in a private message to Mashinsky during the scheme, “The problem is people are selling [CEL] and no one is buying it except us,” adding, “The main problem is that the value is fake and is based on us spending millions of dollars (approximately $8 million per week until February 2020 and more) to keep it where it is.”

To further his scheme to manipulate CEL, Mashinsky also made numerous false and misleading public statements about the nature of Celsius’ market activity and the extent of Celsius’ own responsibility for artificially supporting and inflating the price of CEL. In some cases, MASHINSKY and other Celsius executives also personally purchased CEL with the intent to artificially support the price of CEL.

By artificially inflating the price of CEL, MASHINSKY was able to sell his CEL shares at a substantial profit. MASHINSKY personally profited approximately $48 million from the sale of CEL shares. MASHINSKY made numerous false and misleading public statements regarding his sales of CEL shares, claiming that he had not sold CEL shares, when in fact, he was using his orchestrated price manipulation to simultaneously sell large amounts of CEL shares in the market, and sometimes even to Celsius itself.

Prior to the “pause” of Celsius customer withdrawals on June 12, 2022, MASHINSKY continued to assure Celsius customers that Celsius was in good financial condition and had sufficient liquidity to meet all customer withdrawal needs. However, at the same time as he made these statements, MASHINSKY had removed approximately $8 million worth of non-CEL crypto assets from the Celsius platform.

On June 12, 2022, Celsius announced that it would suspend all customer withdrawals from the Celsius platform. At that time, hundreds of thousands of Celsius customers (many of whom were retail investors) still had approximately $4.7 billion worth of crypto assets on the Celsius platform, but they were unable to move any of their assets. Around July 13, 2022, Celsius filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

25/02/2025

Allianz Global Investors USA LLC (“AGI”) was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Colleen McMahon in July 2023 for years of securities fraud involving a series of private investment funds managed by AGI, announced Damian Williams, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York. AGI had previously pleaded guilty to one count of securities fraud.

From at least in or about 2014 until at least in or about March 2020, AGI, an investment adviser registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), headquartered in New York City, was an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of Allianz SE, one of the world’s largest financial services companies and insurance companies. AGI engaged in a scheme to defraud investors in multiple private funds in AGI’s “Structured Alpha Funds.” The Structured Alpha Funds (the “Funds”) were one of the most profitable groups of funds managed by AGI, with over $11 billion of assets under management at their peak. The Funds employed complex options trading strategies designed to provide investors with guaranteed returns while managing risk. AGI defrauded the Funds and its investors by understating the risks to investors’ assets and, therefore, how the returns they touted were actually generated.

Specifically, in order to generate the Funds’ positive returns and to attract and retain capital, AGI deceived investors about the risks the Funds were taking. Among other things, AGI misrepresented the hedging and other risk mitigation strategies it was implementing to protect investor funds. Investors also received documents that were altered to obscure the risks of the fund investments. Rather than manage the funds as promised to investors, AGI deployed an investment strategy that prioritized returns over risk management, which was fundamentally inconsistent with representations to investors. As a result of this fraudulent scheme, investors’ funds were exposed to higher risk than promised, and investors were unable to understand the true risks to their investments.

Following the market chaos caused by the COVID-19 outbreak in March 2020 (the “COVID Crash”), the funds lost more than $8 billion in market value, $3 billion in principal, faced margin calls and redemption requests, and were ultimately closed. More than 100 investors fell victim to this scam, including pension funds of teachers, religious organizations, bus drivers, engineers, and other individuals, universities, and charitable organizations.

25/02/2025

Protect your wallet from accidental deposit scams

What to do if someone sends you money
Never send money to someone you don't know through a payment app, even if they send you money.
If a stranger sends you money and asks you to return it, contact the payment app directly without communicating with the sender. If something unexpected does happen, the payment app or bank will reverse the charge, or they will deduct the deposit from your account after determining the rightful owner of the deposit.

With these scams, the scammers will become increasingly desperate and often vicious. They may call you names, telling you how they can't pay their rent or have children who depend on them for care. They may try to get you to call or text them so they can explain. It's best not to respond to anything they say. No matter what they say, you have to let the payment app figure out the situation.

Can you keep the money?
If a thief throws a bag of stolen jewelry down your chimney, you are not the rightful owner of the jewelry. The same is true with accidental deposit scams - you are the recipient of the stolen goods. If you leave the scam money in your account, the app or bank will most likely take it out in a timely manner. If you spend the money before your bank flags suspicious activity, you may be asked to hand over an equal amount of money when the scam is discovered. Even if they take their time, it’s best to contact the app’s customer support to determine what to do.

What if it’s truly an accident?
The truth is, some accidental deposits aren’t scams. Accidents happen all the time. But instead of investigating the credibility of the person on the other end of the deposit, let the app do it. If you think an accident has occurred, have the stranger contact the app’s customer service. Contact customer service as well and tell them about the situation. At this point, it’s best to stop communicating with the other party. If a scam is happening, the sender will do everything they can to manipulate you. Don’t spend money and let the app figure it out.

25/02/2025

Protect your wallet from accidental deposit scams

What is an accidental deposit scam?
An accidental deposit scam is when scammers use mobile payment apps to trick users into sending them money. If you are the target of this scam, you receive a sum of money from someone you don't know through a payment app. Then your inbox is flooded with messages: it was a mistake, they accidentally sent you money, can you send it back?

You might be thinking, if someone sent me money, how can this be a scam? The scam is that the money that was "accidentally" sent to you most likely came from a hacked credit card or bank account. Basically, the scammers are laundering money. If the bank finds out about them in the process of returning the money and reverses the charge, you could end up paying an untraceable amount of personal information out of your bank account.

How the scam works
Before the accidental deposit scam begins, the scammers hack into someone's credit card or bank account. Then, the scammers create fake profiles on payment apps like Zelle, Cash App, or Venmo. The scammers use the funds from the stolen accounts to "accidentally" send deposits to real people who use these apps, who are often randomly selected. The scammers use the messaging features of these apps to try to convince the target to return the money. Time is of the essence - when the bank or payment app discovers the scam, they deduct the deposit from the target's account.

While the victim may think they are returning the money, they are actually depositing the money from their account into the scammer's account. The "returned" money is no longer associated with the bank account that was originally hacked. Additionally, once the fraudulent activity is discovered, the victim's bank or app may automatically deduct the amount the scammer sent to the victim, leaving the victim liable. While the victim may think this is the same as $700 transferred between users, banks and the law view this situation differently.

If the target keeps the scammer's money, it is technically stolen property. The deal will most likely disappear within a few days.

25/02/2025

When the scammer calls grandma

Seniors have been receiving these kinds of emergency messages from scammers for far too long. In 2023, the FBI received reports of about 200 grandparent scams, resulting in losses of nearly $2 million, a figure that is likely underestimated due to underreporting. Recently, these scammers have also made headlines with arrests. The hit movie Thelma & Louise begins with the title character receiving a phone call from a scammer using deepfake AI technology to impersonate her grandson's voice. The "grandson" claims to have been in a car accident and needs her to send $10,000 for bail. The movie was inspired by a true event in which the filmmaker's grandmother was involved in this all-too-common scam.

So-called "grandparent scams" or "family emergency scams" target older adults and are usually conducted over the phone, but other methods of communication can also be used. The scammer impersonates a law enforcement officer, an attorney, or a relative in person. The criminal will try to convince the victim that a family member is in trouble and needs a large amount of money, which the victim must keep secret.

With the rise of audio and video generation AI, these scams are becoming increasingly difficult to detect. Still, there are some red flags to watch out for. You should also discuss these events with your family and how you can work together to stay safe.

How the Scam Works
Grandparent scams often begin with an unexpected phone call. The caller claims to be a grandchild, police officer, or lawyer and claims the grandchild is in urgent need of financial assistance. The money is for bail, legal fees, or medical bills. The scammer insists on immediate action with the goal of panicking the victim. They instruct the victim to wire money, transfer cryptocurrency, buy gift cards, mail the payment, or even send cash via courier.

To make the call sound more convincing, the scammer often has personal information about the victim and the family member they are impersonating. This information may come from social media, a personal website, or other online sources. Now, AI can even be used to mimic a grandchild's voice!

In addition, the scammer will tell the victim to keep the payment secret, even from family members. For example, they may say a judge ordered the case to remain confidential.

Although the details may vary and the scammer strives to be as convincing as possible, the characteristics of a family emergency scam include:

An unexpected emergency.

A request for immediate payment through unconventional means.

A request for the victim to keep the matter secret.

Over time, the scammer may claim that someone has died from injuries caused by a (fake) accident, thereby demanding larger secret payments.

When in doubt, hang up!
Family emergency scams are upsetting and designed to stir up strong emotions. When the phone rings, remember these tips:
1. Do not answer from numbers you don't recognize.
2. If you get a call from or about a family member asking you to urgently borrow money, hang up! Even if the other party sounds like your loved one, hang up.
3. Instead, call the family member's phone number directly.
4. If the family member doesn't answer the phone or you don't have their phone number, call another family member to verify the situation.
5. If someone tells you to keep the emergency or payment confidential, this is a red flag and you should hang up.
6. Never send money to a stranger who calls you or contacts you online.
7. Do not reveal any personal or financial information, including names, to strangers. Grandparent scams often start with the scammer saying something like "This is your grandson," the grandparent reveals the name ("Timmy?"), and the scammer then uses this information to commit the scam.

World Anti-Scam Organization

19/03/2025

06/03/2025

25/02/2025

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