Beware scam messages offering ships safe transit through Hormuz Strait, says security firm

ATHENS – Fraudulent messages promising safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz in exchange for cryptocurrency have been sent to some shipping firms with vessels stranded west of the waterway, said Greek maritime risk management firm Marisks. The US has maintained its blockade of Iranian ports, while Iran has lifted and then reimposed its blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, through which about one-fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas passed before war broke out in the Middle East. Amid ceasefire talks, Tehran, which controls the choke point, has proposed tolls on vessels to safely transit. Marisks on...