NatWest is stepping up customer protections from crypto criminals after consumers lost £329m last year.
A daily limit of £1000 and a 30-day withdrawal limit of £5000 on cryptocurrency exchanges will be introduced to protect clients from losing life-changing sums of money.
Cryptocurrency investments are often made through legitimate exchange platforms. On these websites, customers can buy, sell or exchange cryptocurrencies for other digital currencies or traditional currencies.
Men over 35 are most at risk as they are more willing to make risky investments. The cost-of-living crisis is also making itself felt with promises of high returns, which criminals use to lure investors.
Cryptocurrency scams are often promoted online and offer high returns. Criminals play on a lack of understanding of how cryptocurrency markets work and their unpredictability to encourage investors to transfer funds to exchanges, which are often set up in the criminal’s own name or the victim under the criminal’s coercion.
Stuart Skinner, Head of Fraud Protection NatWest, says: “You should always have sole control of your cryptocurrency wallet and no one else should have access. If you didn’t set up the wallet yourself or you can’t access the funds, it’s probably a scam.
We have seen an increase in cryptocurrency exchange scams and are acting to protect our customers.”
Cryptocurrencies are not protected by the UK’s Financial Services Compensation Scheme and most are not regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.
Three steps you must take to avoid becoming a victim of a cryptocurrency scam
- Never share your crypto wallet password with anyone, even if your crypto contact/investor says they need it to deposit funds into your wallet.
- Read all the information slowly – don’t let market volatility push you into an investment. This is an opportunity to look out for typos and grammatical errors on a fake website.
- Beware of giveaways – Social media is full of crypto criminals using fake news from well-known companies and celebrities using giveaways for fake accounts. They often have positive responses in advertisements that make them appear more legitimate, but these are also fake.
