Crypto scams rise among Namibians

Namibians are increasingly becoming targets of sophisticated cryptocurrency scams and illicit financial activities, including the alarming use of virtual assets to fund terrorist organisations.The Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC), in its annual report for 2024, stated that there has been a surge in financial crimes linked to virtual asset service providers (VASPs), where criminals exploit the perceived anonymity of these platforms for fraud, Ponzi schemes, and even money laundering that fuels global terror.“Over the years, the FIC has noted a growing number of financial crimes linked to VASPs, including cryptocurrency exchanges and wallet providers. Criminals exploit these platforms due to their reduced anonymity as they advance investment fraud, Ponzi or pyramid schemes, and phishing attacks,” the FIC said.Of particular concern is that criminals are making use of these mechanisms to fund terrorist organisations.“Many people in Namibia have fallen victim to scams where fraudsters promise high returns on crypto investments, only to disappear with the victims’ funds. Additionally, criminals make use of virtual assets (VAs) for money laundering (ML) and terrorist financing (TF), which poses a challenge for authorities in tracking cross-border transactions,” the FIC added.Rise of blockchain technologyThe adoption and use of VAs and blockchain technology have grown immensely, another area of concern for the FIC. “This growth has naturally emerged with heightened opportunities in cybercrime. The use of VAs can pose a variety of risks such as fraud, scams, and TF,” the FIC said.“The limited supervisory and regulatory extent of VAs also presents opportunities for cybercriminals to launder money, mainly due to the difficulty in tracing transactions,” it added.The FIC received 458 VA-related suspicious transaction reports (STRs). “Similar to the filing trends of STRs and suspicious activity reports (SARs), the banking sector submitted 441 (96.3%) reports, which constituted the highest submission by any sector. Notably, fraud and scams are the most frequently identified predicate offences regarding the illegal use of cryptocurrencies,” the FIC said.

Crypto scams rise among Namibians

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Republikein 2025-09-02

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Crypto scams rise among Namibians

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