On May 8, Binance TR, the Turkish subsidiary of cryptocurrency exchange Binance, alerted investors in the region of an ongoing fraud involving bogus Binance-branded billboards and hoardings.
According to Similarweb data, Turkey is home to a large number of crypto investors, who account for more than 7% of overall traffic to Binance’s principal platform through desktop browsers. Scammers in Turkey have been seen renting multiple billboards to sell phoney Binance-themed opportunities in an attempt to capitalise on Binance’s popularity in the nation.
The latest warning given by Binance Turkey shows a billboard advertising “Binance Tourist Exchange,” which has no affiliation with the real Binance, founded by Changpeng “CZ” Zhao.
The billboard also contains contact information that, when contacted, can link potential victims to scammers. The warning states that:
“For a while, billboards similar to the image below have been striking in different regions of Turkey […and] has nothing to do with #Binance!”
Given the ease with which the people responsible for renting out billboards and putting false advertisements aimed at crypto investors can be tracked down, Binance has declared its intention to go on the attack and take legal action against those “obviously participating in fraudulent activities.”
Scammers posing as Binance generally meet unwary investors who contact the phoney contact numbers. Scammers have been observed directing investors to open new accounts or exchange existing seed words with the ultimate purpose of stealing money in the form of crypto assets.
Binance inaugurated its first 24/7 customer support centre in Turkey last month, on April 15, as it plans to expand the service globally. Investors who feel they have been contacted by such scammers should contact Binance’s official customer service via official means, such as the website or mobile application.
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