Our experts counted a staggering total of more than 500,000 members who were either buyers or sellers of these underground currency exchanges and fake KYC services Unveiling the KYC Actor Industry. CertiK has unveiled an underground ring of KYC actors for hire, used by rogue developers to scam Web3 communities. A KYC actor is an individual hired to KYC on behalf of rogue project owners before an insider hack or an exit scam. It’s cheap and easy to hire someone to KYC for a fraudulent endeavor. Most KYC actors are based in developing countries and are paid a small amount for each role. Sellers and buyers meet on over-the-counter marketplaces and use an escrow service for payment. The price of a KYC actor increases if the actor has to face a complex verification process or if the buyer needs an actor who is a national resident of a country. CertiK has uncovered some KYC actors acting as the CEO of a crypto project. Fraudulent teams can use fake KYC badges to bypass their verification process to scam investors and escape accountability for their crimes. CertiK has built an investigative unit to detect insider hacks or exit scams before they occur. Investors can verify if a project team has successfully passed CertiK’s investigation and obtained a CertiK KYC badge on the Security Leaderboard.
