Meta, Ripple, and Kraken have joined Coinbase’s ‘Tech Against Scam’ awareness initiative: Details inside.
Several tech giants, including Meta, Ripple, Kraken, and Tinder’s parent company, Match Group, have partnered with Coinbase to establish a coalition aimed at combating online crimes affecting the industry globally.
Coinbase, one of the world’s largest crypto exchanges, has launched an educational and awareness initiative called ‘Tech Against Scam.’ This initiative aims to educate the tech community on how to protect themselves from fraud and online scams, with the goal of making the industry a safer space. Several tech giants, including Meta, Ripple, Kraken, and Tinder’s parent company, Match Group, have joined forces with Coinbase to form a coalition against the online crimes affecting the industry globally.
According to Statista, 66.2 percent of the world’s nearly eight billion people, or 5.35 billion individuals, are connected to the internet and use various gadgets and applications. The 2023 Global State of Scams report highlighted that financial losses due to scams have reached a staggering $1.026 trillion (approximately Rs. 85,30,820 crore), representing 1.05 percent of the global GDP.
Through the ‘Tech Against Scam’ program, Coinbase aims to share insights with the global tech community to help them recognize the malicious intentions of cyber criminals engaged in phishing. The report noted that scammers often target potential victims in the finance, dating, social media, and cryptocurrency sectors.
“The Tech Against Scams Coalition serves as the primary platform where participating tech companies will collaborate to combat the tools used by scammers, educate and protect consumers, and disrupt rapidly evolving financial scams,” stated a blog post by the crypto exchange, outlining the initiative’s purpose. This collaboration will involve sharing best practices, threat intelligence, and other tips and information to help keep users safe and protected from online fraud schemes.
The exchange highlighted that ‘pig butchering’ is among the rapidly evolving scam tactics that need to be addressed. In these scams, victims are manipulated into making large investments, often in the form of cryptocurrencies, into fraudulent crypto tokens or projects with the promise of high returns.
“While illicit activity accounts for less than 0.5 percent of crypto transactions, the impact on victims can be devastating and life-changing. It’s estimated that consumers worldwide lose $1.4 trillion (approximately Rs. 1,16,40,321 crore) to financial scams every year,” the report added.
In the blog post announcing the launch of Coinbase’s online safety initiative, the exchange outlined several steps for people to protect themselves against notorious cyber criminals. These recommendations include avoiding the use of third-party apps for financial transactions, discussing investment plans with trusted and knowledgeable entities, engaging with assets through reputable platforms, and staying informed.
Currently, Coinbase has not provided specific details about what this initiative will involve in terms of campaigns, educational workshops, and community engagement around online literacy. Additionally, members of the coalition have not yet commented on this development.
