Australians advised to stay away from fake crypto paper wallets they find on the street

It has been reported that scammers have been leaving fake crypto paper wallets in public locations in an effort to con Australians out of their cryptocurrency.

Australians have been cautioned to avoid suspicious-appearing fake Bitcoin paper wallets that trick users into accessing a profitable crypto wallet but ultimately deplete their own cryptocurrency holdings.

According to a post made on the NSW Police Force’s Facebook page on November 22, the scam begins with a paper cryptocurrency wallet with a QR code that is designed to look like a genuine Bitcoin paper wallet.

When a user finds the paper wallet and scans the QR code, a link leading to a cryptocurrency wallet with up to $16,000 Australian dollars ($10,000) is displayed.

The user is then required to pay a withdrawal fee and enter the password for their personal cryptocurrency wallet in order to ostensibly transfer the balance there.

NSW police explained,

“Once the withdrawal fee is paid and person’s crypto wallet details provided, the person’s cryptocurrency is stolen from their crypto wallets.”

The public has been warned by the authorities to be cautious, and anyone who finds a paper cryptocurrency wallet like this has been instructed not to try to scan the QR code, access the account, or provide any personal information.
They should turn over the wallet to their neighborhood police department instead.

This is not the first paper crypto wallet scam to occur in Australia. A Reddit user started a thread over three months ago claiming to have discovered a paper cryptocurrency wallet and labeling it as potentially fraudulent.

Numerous other people responded with their own accounts of discovering paper cryptocurrency wallets on the street, at the beach, and in parks.