Crypto firms join forces to launch scam reporting platform ‘Chainabuse’

Binance, Circle, and some other prominent crypto firms have launched a crypto scam reporting platform. The tool “empowers anyone in the crypto economy to warn others about scams, hacks or other fraudulent activity as they encounter it.”

Crypto firms have joined forces and launched a new, multi-chain scam reporting platform. TRM Labs, Binance.us, Circle, Solana Foundation, Hedera, the Aave Companies, and Civic announced the launch of a new community-powered scam reporting platform, dubbed “Chainabuse.”

According to the announcement, operated by blockchain intelligence firm TRM Labs, the platform empowers anyone in the crypto economy to warn others about scams, hacks, or other fraudulent activity as they encounter it.

“The free tool enables crypto users, victims of financial crimes, and crypto businesses to take an active role in making the crypto ecosystem a safer place to operate,” it detailed.

For now, users can file reports under Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, Polygon, Hedera, Binance Smart Chain, and Tron, as well as upvoting and downvoting. Other platform users can also leave comments to contribute additional information.

“Reports on the same addresses or entities are consolidated and housed in a searchable database, which anyone can use to proactively check addresses or projects before engaging with them,” the announcement describes.

At the time of writing, 624 reports are showing on the platform.

Although Chainabuse said that it does not file reports with law enforcement on behalf of users, however, the platform’s FAQ page notes:

“Filing a report on Chainabuse may help surface multiple victims of the same scam and provides victims the ability to opt in to contact from law enforcement.”

“We encourage all victims of cryptocurrency exploits to consider filing a report with the FBI’s IC3, Europol, or the relevant law enforcement agency in their jurisdiction,” the Chainabuse team states.

Earlier this month, crypto data websites Etherscan, CoinGecko, DeFi Pulse many other popular sites reported incidents of a malicious pop-up prompting users to connect their MetaMask wallets. Initial indications suggest that malicious code via ads on the affected sites is the vector for the phishing attack. Platforms urged users to “not confirm any transactions” that popped up on its website.