As cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology continue to spread around the world, government agencies have begun to conduct frequent audits and investigations in these areas.
In this context, US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) investigators pointed out that cryptocurrencies and NFTs have recently been used more and more in fraud crimes.
IRS investigators noted that cryptocurrencies and NFTs are mostly used through money laundering, market manipulation and tax evasion.
Ryan Korner, the special agent for the Los Angeles area of the IRS’s criminal investigation division, attends a virtual event “We see mountains of fraud in this area” said.
Korner also said that famous names may also be subject to IRS investigations and they are not exempt from IRS investigations.
New Target of Scammers: “NFTs”
Reminding that the IRS seized $3.5 billion in cryptocurrencies related to financial crimes in 2021, Korner stated that the IRS closed 2021 with 80,000 active events related to cryptocurrencies.
Korner also pointed out that the $3.5 billion cryptocurrency seized by the IRS accounted for 93% of all seized assets.
Korner said they are also concerned about the increased use of NFTs in the face of increasing cryptocurrency scams.
“We get worried when we see people paying millions of dollars for assets that don’t have this kind of intrinsic value, like NFTs.”
Expressing that high-profile investors can change asset prices with a single tweet, Korner said that NFTs and cryptocurrencies are ripe for market manipulation.
Recently, Korner stated that in the face of increasing crypto fraud, the IRS has given special training to all its agents on crypto money and NFTs. “future in these fields” said.