The collapse of cryptocurrency exchange FTX has triggered investigations. Aspects of the scandal are reminders that complaints of investment swindles are soaring. The good news? You can protect yourself by taking five precautionary steps.
X
“Given where the market is, in bear territory, it’s a great environment for scammers to feed on investors’ growing fears,” said Eric Sterner, chief investment officer of Charleston, S.C.-based Apollon Wealth Management. “People are scared of layoffs, of market losses, of inflation. It makes them increasingly vulnerable to scammers’ promises of easy, quick returns.”
Sterner added, “But you can protect yourself with some basic safety steps.”
Of course, you assume you’d never fall for any bunco artist’s con. But maybe your young-adult son or daughter or elderly loved one is more vulnerable.
They could benefit from your eagle-eyed coaching.
Scam Count: High And Growing
One thing’s for sure. Somebody needs coaching. The number of investment scams is exploding. This year through Sept. 30, victims filed just shy of 80,000 complaints with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).
That puts the scam count easily on track to surpass the 82,181 complaints filed in all of 2021.
And it dramatically dwarfs the 14,797 filed in 2018.
Further, the pain from those scams is rising. This year’s scams cost investors $2.7 billion so far. And that’s before taking account of the FTX cryptocurrency exchange collapse, which occurred in the fourth…
