A California man is suing three Asia-based banks, claiming they could’ve stopped fraudsters from stealing nearly $1 million in crypto. Ken Liem claims Fubon Bank, Chong Hing Bank, and DBS Bank ignored red flags that enabled fraudsters to defraud him through a pig butchering scam. Liem says that scammers lured him via LinkedIn in June 2023 with a fake crypto investment opportunity. Over the months, he transferred funds, believing that the scammers were investing on his behalf but it turned out to be a major fraud. Banks accused of ignoring red flags As per the report, the fraudsters funneled funds through accounts at the banks and then sent them to third parties. The lawsuit accuses the banks of failing to meet Know Your Customer (KYC), Anti-Money Laundering, and US Bank Secrecy Act standards. It alleges that they overlooked “a high probability” of fraudulent activity tied to account holders. It highlighted that “A simple review would have revealed a complete lack of credible evidence that their business activities were lawful”. It added that they turned a “blind eye” to suspicious activity. He has accused the banks of violating the US Bank Secrecy Act as DBS has a California branch. On the other hand, Fubon and Chong Hing processed transactions through Wells Fargo . Entities like Richou Trade, FFQI Trade, Xibing, and Weidel are also named in the lawsuit for misrepresenting the use of Liem’s funds and diverting them to unauthorized accounts. Liem is seeking a jury trial and at least $3 million in damages. He alleges that the banks and linked entities played a role in facilitating the scam. Crypto losses drop to $29M in December Amid a spike in such cases, a recent Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) report revealed a $308 million Bitcoin heist from Japan’s DMM Bitcoin by a group called “TraderTraitor.” The hackers used a deceptive tactic while posing as recruiters on LinkedIn. They then delivered a malicious Python script to an employee at a crypto wallet company through communications. December 2024 saw a drop in crypto losses to stand at $29 million. It is reportedly the lowest monthly figure of the year. Blockchain security firms CertiK and PeckShield suggest that it was a huge downturn compared to October’s $115.8 million in losses. #CertiKStatsAlert 🚨 Combining all the incidents in December we’ve confirmed ~$28.6m lost to exploits, hacks and scams. December’s losses are the lowest monthly losses we recorded in 2024. Exit scams: ~$0.2m Flash loans: ~$1.7m Exploits: ~$26.7m More details below 👇 pic.twitter.com/gkQ06y4ndz — CertiK Alert (@CertiKAlert) December 31, 2024 CertiK reported $28.6 million in losses, while PeckShield recorded $24.7 million. Both firms showed a sharp reduction from the previous months. Despite the overall drop, December had its share of major incidents, including the GemPad exploit and LastPass breach. GemPad faced a severe exploit where hackers drained $2.1 million by exploiting a vulnerability in the platform’s smart contracts. Meanwhile, FEG suffered a $1 million loss due to an error in its cross-chain message verification process. Land a High-Paying Web3 Job in 90 Days: The Ultimate Roadmap
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