How It Works:
- You get a message on a social media platform from someone claiming to be a celebrity or billionaire investor promising to multiply your investment in their favorite crypto coin.
- Rumors circulate that a famous mogul is backing a certain cryptocurrency, but you must buy right away to take advantage of the opportunity.
- A new online friend or love interest has a crypto opportunity for you to invest in.
- Someone guides you to a cryptocurrency ATM in your neighborhood — often located in a supermarket or gas station — and gives you a QR code that you scan to open a digital wallet where you deposit money.
What you Should Know
- A common type of investment scam, called “Pump and Dump,” lures investors to buy into an investment quickly in order to drive up the price. Scammers then sell off their stake, causing the currency’s value to plummet. This scheme is taking off in the cryptocurrency investment space.
- Crypto scammers set up phony websites filled with fake testimonials and studded with crypto jargon promising huge, guaranteed returns on investments.
- Criminals are using online romance scams to lure victims into crypto schemes. The FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) fielded more than 1,800 reports of crypto-focused romance scams in the first seven months of 2021, with losses topping $133 million….
