As the bottom falls out of the crypto market, scams spread unabated.
Over the last few months, crypto markets have crumbled. Bitcoin has lost two-thirds of its value since last November, Ethereum’s fallen by three quarters, and others have collapsed altogether.
You might think that their plummeting value would make cryptocurrencies less attractive to criminals. However, according to reports from both the UK and the US, the number of cryptocurrency scams is actually on the rise.
NordVPN says its data shows that there’s been a 58% rise in the amount of money stolen year on year in the UK through crypto fraud, with the average victim typically losing £36,250. So far this year, scammers have already made off with £118 million.
Meanwhile in the US, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) warned last month that consumers reported losing more than $1 billion to fraud involving cryptocurrencies between January 2021 and March 2022. Here, the median amount lost was $2,600.
“These frauds are thriving, despite the huge crash in Bitcoin and other currencies, and, worryingly, the clear rise in the amounts stolen per fraud shows the scammers are getting better at fleecing their victims,” says Marijus Briedis, CTO and digital privacy expert at NordVPN.
Who’s falling for these scams?
According to NordVPN, it’s younger people who are the most likely to be targeted by bogus investment schemes, with those aged between 20 and 39 accounting for two in five incidents.
Attracted by the prospect…
