Australians have been warned to stay away from suspicious-looking fake Bitcoin paper wallets, which work by luring victims into accessing a lucrative crypto wallet but will ultimately drain them of their own crypto holdings.<\/p>\n
According to a Nov. 22 post<\/a> on the Facebook page of the NSW Police Force, the scam starts as a paper cryptocurrency wallet with a QR code, which is made to appear like a legitimate Bitcoin paper wallet<\/a>. <\/p>\n These are strewn by scammers in public locations such as streets or parks. <\/p>\n An individual that locates the paper wallet and scans the QR code is directed to click on a link to access a crypto wallet with up to $16,000 Australian dollars ($10,000). <\/p>\n The person is then asked to pay a withdrawal fee and provide their own wallet credentials that will purportedly allow them to transfer the balance into their own crypto wallet.<\/p>\n “Once the withdrawal fee is paid and person’s crypto wallet details provided, the person’s cryptocurrency is stolen from their crypto wallets,\u201d explained the NSW police. <\/p>\n The authorities have advised the public to stay vigilant, and that anybody who finds a paper crypto wallet similar to this should not attempt to scan the QR code, access the account, or supply their private information.<\/p>\n Instead, they should surrender the wallet to their local police station. <\/p>\n This is not Australia’s first instance of a paper crypto wallet scam. Over three months ago, a user on Reddit created a thread<\/a> reporting they had found a paper crypto wallet and flagged it as a possible scam. <\/p>\n Dozens of other people from all over the country responded with their own stories of finding paper crypto wallets in the street, on the beach, and at parks. <\/p>\n One user, Pinnymc, commented they almost fell for it because they could see the wallet address and the transactions on-chain. They said the website also appeared genuine. <\/p>\n However, Pinnymc says they became suspicious because of the 0.5% transaction fee. <\/p>\n “If this was a legit wallet I should be able to withdraw and the transaction fee comes out of the balance. It’s such a shame because this looks so legit,” said the user.\u00a0<\/p>\n Related:<\/em><\/strong> \u2018Do not delay\u2019 \u2014 ASIC warns Aussies to look for 10 signs of a crypto scam<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Australians have already proven to be particularly\u00a0susceptible to investment and crypto<\/a>-related scams this year, losing 242.5 million Australian dollars to scammers so far in 2022, according to data from the Australian consumer watchdog’s Scamwatch website.\u00a0<\/p>\n The country’s federal law enforcement agency has also\u00a0highlighted the criminal use of crypto<\/a> as an “emerging threat” but says it’s a challenge to keep pace with criminals who are constantly changing tactics and methods. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n![](\"https:\/\/s3.cointelegraph.com\/uploads\/2022-11\/a201d4d4-bfa4-46b3-b170-e7be586434f6.jpg\")