In line with an official announcement, Austria’s FMA [Financial Market Authority] revealed that there has been a rise in crime using crypto assets, and stricter regulations are required now.
The FMA reports two-thirds of the investment fraud reports filed within last year were associated with cryptocurrency and virtual currency trading products, consistent with a Bloomberg report.
“We see an excellent requirement for stricter regulation,” FMA spokesman Klaus Grubelnik told Bloomberg. “Fake offerings for stocks and gold are around forever and these scams are now shifting to digital assets due to the hype.”
There has been a hike in the number of scams employing virtual currencies advertised on social media platforms like Facebook, WhatsApp, TikTok, and Telegram, warned the FMA.
Grubelnik added that prosecution was even harder in such cases as investigations usually need to be conducted across borders.
![U.S Department of Justice Reveals A Fraud Case Against 'Eastern Metal Securities’ [EMS].](https://cdn.shortpixel.ai/client/q_glossy,ret_img,w_120,h_86/https://etherdesk.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/imageedit_193_5494980853-120x86.jpg)
