By
Temitope Olatunji
June 14th, 2024
The coalition involves multiple tech sectors, cutting across social media, cryptocurrency, finance, and dating apps.
Coinbase, a US-based crypto exchange platform, announced on its X page that it has joined forces with top crypto and tech firms to form what they tagged the Tech Against Scam coalition. The industry leaders involved in this latest development include Meta, Match Group, Kraken, Ripple, Gemini, and GASO. These companies have a shared mission to tackle the rising issue of scams and fraudulent activities that have plagued the online sector.
We’re proud to announce the Tech Against Scams coalition.
Scams are a tech-wide issue and require an industry-wide response. Together with industry leaders, we're committed to protecting and educating users.
Learn More→ https://t.co/3w8gfEUFZr pic.twitter.com/E1nGlT8lzi
— Coinbase 🛡️ (@coinbase) May 21, 2024
Cross-Industry Collaboration to Combat Online Scams
The coalition involves multiple tech sectors, cutting across social media, cryptocurrency, finance, and dating apps. This shows the urgent need to combat scams, which have eaten deeply into the system. Hence, by bringing their resources and insights together, these tech giants hope to stay one step ahead of scammers and protect users from falling victim to various types of online fraud.
According to the group, one way of handling the prevailing fraudulent activities is to educate users about common scamming tactics and how to avoid them. Whether it’s a fake investment scheme, deceptive social media tactics, or malicious activities on dating apps, the group aims to equip users with the knowledge and tools to protect them from these bad actors.
Devraj Varadhan, EVP of Engineering at Ripple, agrees with this by also emphasizing the need to educate and teach individuals how to protect themselves, as these bad actors are taking every opportunity to target and defraud innocent victims. He said:
“As scams continue to become more convincing and intricate, bad actors are taking every opportunity to target and defraud innocent victims. We must fight back and educate individuals on how to protect themselves from these predators. There is no place for scammers, and we must come together across industries to address this pressing issue.”
Coinbase also shared the same thoughts. The exchange stated that through education and joining forces with other tech giants, they can protect the community and ensure a safe and secure financial future.
Losses from Online Fraud and Crypto-Related Crimes
According to a report by Chainalysis, 0.34% of blockchain transactions are used to carry out fraudulent activities, making crypto security a major issue to address. Similarly, PeckShieldAlert, a blockchain security firm, released a report earlier this year stating that over 600 major hacks took place within the crypto space in 2023, resulting in the loss of more than $2.6 billion, while only $674 million was recovered.
Also, in the annual internet report by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) for 2023, it was revealed that Americans lost $12.5 billion to online fraud last year, a decrease of 22% from 2022. The losses from cryptocurrency investment fraud alone were $3.94 billion.
With the rate at which these fraudulent activities are increasing, strict action is urgently needed to maintain the sanity of transactions within the online world and even make it safer. The collaboration between Coinbase and the other tech giants is a major step in this process.