Your guide to NYC's public proceedings.
AGENCY TESTIMONY
The rising threat of cybercrime and cryptocurrency fraud
4:52:26
ยท
136 sec
Gonzalez highlights the alarming increase in cybercrime, particularly cryptocurrency scams and AI-driven fraud. He emphasizes the vulnerability of certain populations and the need for immediate, sophisticated intervention to combat these crimes.
- Cybercrime is rapidly growing, targeting seniors, immigrants, and working-class individuals
- Gonzalez shares a specific case of an elderly Polish immigrant victim of a cryptocurrency scam
- He warns about the increasing sophistication of these crimes, especially with the advent of AI
- Gonzalez expresses concern over reduced federal protections and regulations in this area
Eric Gonzalez
4:52:26
While violent crime is dropping, another type of crime is surging, and the great DA of Staten Island, Michael McMahon, touched upon it, cybercrime.
4:52:37
Cybe crypto scams, AI driven fraud, and online financial schemes are growing faster than law enforcement can keep up with, and the targets are usually seniors, immigrants, and working class people who are manipulated into losing everything.
4:52:55
One of those victims was an elderly woman who was tricked by an online scammer running fake investment ads targeting Polish immigrants.
4:53:04
She lost everything.
4:53:06
She had she had moved from New York to Pennsylvania, and the police there where she was living did not know how to handle a cryptocurrency crime.
4:53:16
So the night before her 70 birthday, she drove back to Brooklyn, slept in her car in front of my office, and waited in our lobby till the next morning.
4:53:26
She had nowhere else to turn.
4:53:28
Our virtual currency team sat with her.
4:53:31
They listened to her and did everything to help her try to recover the money she lost, the money that was stolen from her.
4:53:39
This kind of fraud is growing more sophisticated by the day, and it and AI will only make it worse.
4:53:46
To stop it, skilled investigators must intervene immediately using cutting edge technology and tools.
4:53:54
Our small but talented team has seen great results, disrupting massive networks, seizing fraudulent domains, helping victims, and trying to educate the public about this real risk to their livelihoods.
4:54:10
Yet, even as these crimes explode, we're watching federal protections vanish.
4:54:16
The Trump administration has moved to ease cryptocurrency regulations, has reduced SEC oversight, and have got agencies designed to protect consumers.
4:54:27
That means more scams, more victims, and fewer safeguards.
4:54:31
So while Washington steps back, we here in New York City must step forward.
4:54:36
We must stand in the breach between scammers and the vulnerable because if we don't do it, no one will.