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The AFP’s cyber crime unit is warning of a new scam: criminals impersonating police to steal cryptocurrency.
The Australian Federal Police has warned that cyber criminals are abusing Australia’s national cyber crime reporting tool, ReportCyber, to impersonate police and trick cryptocurrency holders into surrendering funds.
The AFP-led Joint Policing Cybercrime Coordination Centre (JPC3) said scammers are using personal information – such as phone numbers and email addresses – obtained through illicit means to lodge fraudulent reports with ReportCyber. They then contact victims while posing as law enforcement and reference the bogus reports to bolster credibility.
In one instance, a target received a call from someone claiming to be an AFP officer, who stated that the victim’s details had been identified in a cryptocurrency-related data breach and that a cyber crime report had already been filed.
The impersonator even provided an official reference number and directed the individual to verify the report status in the ReportCyber portal, where the fraudulently submitted report appeared, lending the scheme further legitimacy.
Scammers then introduced a second impersonator, this time posing as a representative from a cryptocurrency platform. Using the same reference number, the caller attempted to persuade the victim to transfer funds to a so-called “Cold Storage” account. The target became suspicious and hung up before any money was lost.
Other cases have involved spoofed phone numbers designed to mimic those of legitimate agencies.
AFP Detective Superintendent Marie Andersson said the scam’s success hinges on its ability to imitate legitimate verification steps.
“These cyber criminals step through a process to verify the target’s personal information, which may match common expectations,” Superintendent Andersson said.
“What’s more, because they move quickly from making the report to calling the target, they can create a sense of urgency.”
She said the behaviour reflects the increasingly “sophisticated and calculated techniques” used by cyber criminals to exploit public trust. But she also noted that victims coming forward demonstrates growing community awareness.
Superintendent Andersson urged Australians to stay vigilant.
“We encourage Australians to adopt necessary safety measures online and take a moment to stop their scroll, check for warning signs of scams and protect themselves from cyber crime,” she said.
“If you’re contacted by someone about a ReportCyber report you didn’t lodge or authorise someone to make on your behalf, terminate the call and notify ReportCyber or 1300CYBER1 (1300 292 371).”
Despite the warnings, the AFP stressed that ReportCyber remains a safe and secure platform for reporting cyber crime. The issue is not the system itself but criminal attempts to weaponise personal data to manipulate victims through official-looking processes.
“Every cyber crime report can help police track criminals, assist in building intelligence on emerging cyber threats, and prevent other people from being targeted,” Superintendent Andersson said.
David Hollingworth has been writing about technology for over 20 years, and has worked for a range of print and online titles in his career. He is enjoying getting to grips with cyber security, especially when it lets him talk about Lego.
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