EU Crypto Holders Fall Victim to Scammers Posing as Regulators

Scammers are targeting crypto holders who have been displaced by the EU's MiCA deadline. Regulators, including France's Autorité des Marchés Financiers (AMF) and the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), are warning that fraudsters are impersonating financial regulators and licensed exchanges to trick users into sending funds.

According to ESMA, 322 authorized crypto-asset service providers were listed in its register as of August 4. The remaining firms lost their right to serve EU clients after the transitional period under MiCA closed on July 1.

Regulators had instructed unauthorized providers to stop onboarding new clients and to limit services to actions necessary for users to transfer or sell their assets. However, scammers are exploiting this overlap by targeting users who were told to move funds during the same window.