Florida govt warns against auto warranty scammers asking crypto payments

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The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS) issued a warning sharing insights into identifying robocall scams marketing auto warranties, including gift cards and asking people to pay for services via cryptocurrency.

Consumer complaints against rising robocall scams — in which scammers use pre-recorded calls to market and sell fraudulent services — led the Enforcement Bureau to order phone companies to refrain from carrying robocall traffic.

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Despite the methods scammers use to contact potential victims, the FDACS newsletter highlights five red flags that indicate scams.

Five red flags for identifying scams. Source: fdacs.gov

Emphasizing on some of the payment methods often recommended by scammers, the announcement read:

“Payment Type: If you are asked to pay with a gift card or cryptocurrency, it is a scam.”

In addition to asking Florida residents to refrain from making crypto payments, the FDACS reiterated that no government official will ask for personal information, such as their Social Security or credit card numbers, adding that “only scammers will be allowed to use those types of information.” One of the payments will be required, and once you send the money, you probably won’t get it back.”

Although the newspaper noted the impossibility of tracking crypto funds from hackers, several corporations including Velodrome and Curve Finance have successfully recovered stolen funds – thanks to the immutable nature of blockchain technology.

related: US lawmakers meet with Mark Zuckerberg to address ‘breeding ground’ for crypto scams: report

On September 5, United States Congressman Brad Sherman – a noted crypto skeptic – acknowledged the rapid growth of the crypto ecosystem, claiming that banning cryptocurrencies was no longer an option.

Sherman said that political donations and crypto lobbying make it impossible to ban cryptocurrencies, adding:

“We didn’t ban it in the beginning because we didn’t know it was important, and we didn’t ban it now because there’s too much money and power behind it.”

Most lawmakers, including Sherman, are in favor of implementing strict regulatory policies on crypto.