COVID-19 pandemic has caused the postponement of the Olympic Games in Tokyo. Making use of this event, lots of online scammers have sent email to unsuspecting victims, asking for crypto donations.

Specifically, the scam emails stated that Japanese organizers are suffering from economic difficulties due to the pandemic. The money loss was said to be airline tickets, hotels, infrastructure materials, and production booking arrangements.

The letter states that the donation would help Olympic organizers recover after the postponement of the biggest Olympic sports event in the world. It also ensures that the government has been forced to collect funds to compensate for losses. This is where the donation part comes in. 

The letter calls people to donate to a supposed Bitcoin (BTC) crypto wallet belonging to the International Olympic Committee. It claims that donors can purchase a ticket for the Olympics Games at a discount of 30%.

Vise versa, if the funding target is not achieved, scammers said, the international image of the Japanese citizens will be “severely damaged,” running the risk to cancel the Tokyo 2020 Olympics Games.

As donations by cryptocurrency are accepting all over the world, scammers who used donations to trick users also increased. Recently, The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has launched a cryptocurrency fund and is accepting donations in Bitcoin and Ether, reported by TheCryptoSight. 

During the Hurricane Dorian last year, Binance Charity has also reportedly supported US citizens who affected by the catastrophy, by running a campaign in which users can donate cryptocurrency to supply hurricane victims with food and aid through local organizations.