Scams related to cryptocurrency jumped from the seventh riskiest scam in 2020 to the second riskiest in 2021, according to the 2021 BBB Scam Tracker Risk Report.
The annual report analyzes scams reported to the Better Business Bureau.
Although cryptocurrency scams made up only 1.9 percent of the scams reported to BBB Scam Tracker in 2021, the average reported median dollar loss reported for these scams was $1,200 – much higher than the overall median dollar loss of $169 for all scam types.
Online purchase scams maintained the top spot as the riskiest, making up 37.4 percent of all scams reported to BBB Scam Tracker in 2021, with 74.9 percent reporting a monetary loss.
Employment scams dropped in 2021, from second riskiest to third. The susceptibility and median dollar loss of this scam type dropped slightly, while the number of reported scams increased from 7.1 percent in 2020 to 7.8 percent in 2021.
“Scammers shift their tactics constantly and appear to have expanded their use of cryptocurrency to perpetrate fraud,” said Melissa Lanning Trumpower, executive director of the BBB Institute for Marketplace Trust, which produced the report.
“Cryptocurrency scams were riskier in 2021 with 66 percent of those targeted by this scam type losing money and a reported median dollar loss of $1,200.
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