Thousands upon thousands of people have lost their cryptocurrencies since the beginning of last year, after falling for scams. A reality that shows the importance of taking precautions to avoid being one more victim of this problem that can mainly affect traders. Above all, those who use bitcoin.
This is shown by a report by the Federal Trading Commission of the United States Government (FTC). The organism reported in June 2022 than from January 2021 to March this year, more than 46,000 people have reported losing around $1 billion in cryptocurrencies for scams.
Of this total, 70% has been in bitcoin (BTC), 10% in tether (USDT) and 9% in ether (ETH).
The FTC highlights that the cryptocurrency losses reported last year alone (USD 680 million) were sixty times more than those reported in 2018. Likewise, those reported during the first quarter of 2022 (USD 329 million) already represent almost half of those of all of 2021. Figures that do not surprise you because they estimate that these assets have several attractive features for fraudsters.
“There is no centralized bank or authority to flag suspicious transactions and try to stop fraud before it happens. Cryptocurrency transfers cannot be reversed. Once the money is gone, there is no way to get it back. And most people are still not familiar with how crypto works,” the US government body explained.
He also points out that People between the ages of 20 and 49 are the most likely to fall for cryptocurrency scams and the older they are, the more money they tend to lose. Therefore, it is essential to educate yourself on how scammers often operate and understand how crypto assets work. In this way, as CriptoNoticias teaches in its Cryptopedia, you can avoid being a victim of their networks.
The report highlights that since last year almost half of the people who reported losing bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies to a scam they said that started on social media. Precisely through an announcement, publication or private message. The main platforms identified were Instagram (32%), Facebook (26%), WhatsApp (9%) and Telegram (7%).
The reason why they fell is because they were mostly fake investment opportunities that promised easy money with little knowledge of cryptocurrencies. He estimates that 84% of those who started through social networks were for having fallen for this type of lying investment scam.
Scammers claim that they can quickly and easily earn huge returns for investors. But those cryptocurrency “investments” go straight into a scammer’s wallet. They say that websites and apps allow them to track the growth of their cryptocurrencies, but it is all false. Some people report that they made a small “test” withdrawal of money, enough to convince them that it is safe to go all out. But when they actually try to cash out, they are told to send more crypto for (fake) fees, and they don’t get any of their money back.
Federal Trading Commission of the United States Government.
Romance scam is second most common with bitcoin
The agency warns that Second, after fake investment opportunities, the most common scams with bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies are romantic ones.. It indicates that 27% of those reported since last year are of this type and also many of them are mixed with a lying investment promise.
These Casanovas supposedly dazzle people with their supposed wealth and sophistication. Before long, they casually offer tips on how to get started with cryptocurrency investing and help with making investments. People who accept them report that what they actually got was a tutorial on sending cryptocurrency to a scammer.
Federal Trading Commission of the United States Government.
estimated that the average cryptocurrency loss reported per person to romance scammers is $10,000. Since 2021, it points out that USD 185 million in losses of bitcoin and other crypto assets have been reported for falling into scams of this type. While in false investment opportunities USD 575 million have fallen, this being the most common.
The third and fourth most common bitcoin scams are business and government imposters
Right after romance scams are cryptocurrency scams for believing business or corporate imposters and governments. The FCT maintains that since last year USD 93 million and USD 40 million have been lost in each of these respectively.
Business and government phishing scams are as follows. These scams can start with a text about a supposedly unauthorized purchase from Amazon, or an alarming online pop-up made to look like a security alert from Microsoft. From there, your money is reported to be at risk. Scammers may even get the “bank” on the line to back up the story. (Pro tip: It’s not the bank.) In another twist, scammers posing as border patrol agents have told people their accounts will be frozen as part of a drug trafficking investigation. These scammers tell people that the only way to protect their money is to put it in cryptocurrency (and inadvertently send it to the scammer).
Federal Trading Commission of the United States Government.
As advice, the entity warns that no investment in crypto assets is guaranteed to make money. If someone promises that, they’re probably a scammer, even if it’s about your new romance. On the other hand, consider that no legitimate person will force you to buy cryptocurrencies to solve a problem, so you should not fall for this deception.