Binance's Chief Security Officer, Jimmy Su, stressed the importance of verifying communications through official channels and advised users to avoid sharing sensitive information.

The scam typically involves messages claiming an account breach and instructing users to create a new wallet, leading to significant financial losses.

In response to the rising threat of such scams, the Australian government announced an SMS Sender ID Register in December 2024, with a pilot program set to launch in late 2025.

Victims who call the scammers' provided support number are misled into transferring their cryptocurrency to a 'trust wallet' controlled by the scammers, resulting in asset theft.

This recent attack follows a similar phishing scheme reported earlier in March, where fraudulent emails impersonated Coinbase and Gemini, tricking users into creating wallets that the scammers controlled.

AFP Commander Graeme Marshall highlighted that once victims transfer their funds, the stolen cryptocurrency is rapidly moved through various wallets, complicating recovery efforts.

Red flags for this scam include unsolicited messages about account issues, pressure to act quickly, and requests for sensitive information such as seed phrases.

Australians are currently facing a sophisticated scam involving fake text messages that impersonate the Binance cryptocurrency exchange, which appear legitimate by showing up in existing message threads.

Authorities have identified over 130 victims who have been contacted via SMS and encrypted messaging platforms by scammers posing as Binance representatives.

Catriona Lowe, deputy chair of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, emphasized the prevalence of impersonation scams and urged individuals to verify the legitimacy of all communications.

In the previous year, Australians lost approximately 382 million Australian dollars, with nearly half of those losses attributed to cryptocurrency-related investment scams.

The National Anti-Scam Centre and the AFP-led Joint Policing Cybercrime Coordination Centre have been working to identify victims through messages found on encrypted platforms, with support from foreign law enforcement.