Frauds related to cryptocurrencies surged over 146 million pounds ($200 million) in the first nine months of the year, said the UK Police.

The amount of money lost in 2021 so far is 30% more than all of 2020.

The Police also said that more than 7000 reports of crypto-linked frauds were reported to the U.K.’s national reporting center for fraud and cybercrime this year. More than half of these victims were between the age of 18 and 45 years, they added.

Additionally, fraudsters often used a fake celebrity endorsement to lure people in, with about 79% of all complaints reporting a fake endorsement.

“Reports of cryptocurrency fraud have increased significantly over the past few years,” said Temporary Detective Chief Inspector Craig Mullish.

“Being online more means criminals have a greater opportunity to approach unsuspecting victims with fraudulent investment opportunities.”

Elsewhere, India’s three cryptocurrency exchanges WazirX, CoinDCX, and CoinSwitch Kuber, have blocked over 200,000 accounts in the past six months, citing malicious activities.

CoinSwitch Kuber alone suspended 180,000 accounts between April-September 2021 and is currently monitoring the daily activities of around 200k accounts that may be malicious, CoinSwitch Kuber CBO Sharan Nair told BusinessLine.

Binance acquired WazirX meanwhile has blocked 14,469 accounts. The exchange also received 38 requests from the law enforcement agencies of India and the US, UK, France, Austria, Switzerland, and Germany to block the accounts.

To track malicious activities, WazirX has collaborated with crypto compliance platform TRM Labs.

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