FOI reveals 20% of UK crypto fraud last year relied on Binance

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Figures shared by the City of London Police reveal that £36 million ($39.7 million) was lost by investors last year to crypto fraud through Binance.

Authorities calculated the figure based on offenses reported to Action Fraud, the UK’s reporting center for fraud and cybercrime. According to the figures, accessed via a Freedom of Information request (FOI), theft related to Binance made up 17% of the £204 million of crypto fraud reported to the UK police in 2021. This is close to double the previous year’s figure.

The news comes just days after the international crypto exchange saw its BSC Token Hub hacked to the tune of two million BNB worth over $580 million.

Bulk of scams made with bitcoin

The report revealed that bitcoin was used in the majority of the scams, with $121 million worth of the currency involved across all platforms in 2021.

Overall, police revealed that across various exchanges there were 9,288 complaints of crypto crime with an average loss of £21,620 ( around $24,000) per person.

Figures also showed that two-thirds of crypto fraud victims were men and that four out of five victims were older than 30.

The figures don’t suggest that Binance acted inappropriately but rather it accidentally facilitated transactions associated with crime.

Binance head not impressed

Binance’s Global Head of Intelligence and Investigations, Tigran Gambaryan, wasn’t impressed by the FOI and asked why police had failed to include specific figures from other exchanges. He said the company would be pursuing an exact breakdown of the ~$40 million figure.

Gambaryan told CITYA.M: “This is not typical of law enforcement to identify a specific company in this way.”

Binance told the outlet that it’s building “the most sophisticated cyber forensics team on the planet” while cooperating with global law enforcement.

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