Cyberspace Administration cracks down on counterfeit financial websites, stablecoins become a new tool for scams

In 2025, the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) Complaint Center handled 1,418 fake and counterfeit website platforms, including 61 that directly impersonated well-known financial institutions such as China Merchants Securities and CITIC Bank. The tactics used by these scam websites are not complicated, but they continue to harvest the assets of internet users. What is most concerning is that scammers have already begun to use stablecoins and other crypto assets as bait, reflecting a new risk trend.

Scam Tactics of Impersonation Websites

How Deception Is Carried Out

According to the CAC announcement, these impersonation websites mainly carry out scams through the following methods:

• Imitating official websites and branding of legitimate financial institutions to deceive users
• Inducing users to download fake apps and conduct transactions in fake environments
• Promoting so-called “stablecoins” and other financial products with promises of high returns
• Guiding users to engage in stock trading operations and creating false loss illusions on fake platforms

The effectiveness of these multi-layered deception tactics lies in exploiting users’ trust in legitimate financial institutions. When users see familiar brand names and interface designs, they tend to lower their guard.

Why Stablecoins Have Become Scam Tools

The emergence of stablecoins in scams is no coincidence. Compared to traditional financial products, stablecoins have several features that make them attractive to scammers:

• Facilitating cross-border transactions and quick fund transfers
• Lower technical barriers, making it easier for ordinary users to be fooled
• Lack of regulatory awareness, with many users having limited understanding of their nature
• Easy to associate with the concept of “high-tech financial management,” enhancing deception

Scammers are leveraging these characteristics to package stablecoins as “new financial products” to attract users.

The Significance of Regulatory Crackdowns

The handling of 61 counterfeit financial institution websites reflects the CAC’s ongoing efforts in anti-fraud initiatives. In 2025, a total of 1,418 fake websites were dealt with, averaging nearly 4 per day. This frequency indicates that regulatory authorities are continuously strengthening law enforcement.

The importance of these actions includes:

• Protecting consumers’ assets and preventing more users from falling victim
• Maintaining the brand reputation of legitimate financial institutions
• Regulating the internet financial ecosystem and cracking down on illegal fundraising
• Creating sustained deterrence against scammers

How Consumers Can Protect Themselves

In the face of such scams, internet users need to establish basic awareness of prevention:

Summary

The 2025 data from the Cyberspace Administration highlights a reality: impersonation of financial websites remains highly frequent, and the methods are continuously evolving. The inclusion of stablecoins and other crypto assets into the scam toolkit indicates that scammers are actively adapting to market changes.

For consumers, the best defense is to maintain a skeptical attitude. Any website asking you to download apps, transfer funds, or purchase financial products should first be verified through official channels. For the industry, this also serves as a reminder that legitimate stablecoin projects and financial institutions need to invest more in brand protection and user education to help users distinguish between genuine and fake.