The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) reported on the 3rd that since 2021, more than 46,000 people have lost more than $1 billion in cryptocurrency scams, nearly 60 times that of 2018, with a median individual loss of $2,600.
Last year, the global cryptocurrency upsurge caused an endless stream of encryption scams. Nearly half of the victims in the report were deceived through advertisements, posts and information on social platforms. The main platforms are Instagram (32%), Facebook (26%), WhatsApp ( 9%) and Telegram (7%), with Bitcoin (70%) as the bulk cryptocurrency payment, followed by Tether (10%) and Ethereum (9%).
According to the report, nearly $4 of every $10 in social media scams comes from cryptocurrency scams.
Among them, “fake investment opportunities” is the most common encryption scam. The report points out that there is a $575 million cryptocurrency fraud related to it. Victims say that the fraud group will provide fake investment websites and apps to allow them to track the growth of cryptocurrency, But in the end, the money could not be withdrawn.
The second largest scam is romance scams, followed by scams impersonating businesses and governments. The FTC pointed out that younger groups are more likely to be fooled by crypto scams, with 20-49 year olds more than three times as likely to be scammed than older groups.
The FTC emphasized that there is never a guaranteed return on cryptocurrency investments, and business arrangements should be avoided at the time of purchase, while keeping an eye out for romantic temptations.
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Read more here: Reports show scammers cashing in on crypto craze
