Cryptocurrency investment scams are currently on the rise, according to a new report from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).
The report, published on Thursday, states that since last year, more than 40,000 Americans have reported losing “over $1 billion in crypto to scams,” with a majority of scammers using Bitcoin, the world’s most popular cryptocurrency, followed by Tether and Ether. According to the report, the number of reported cryptocurrency losses last year “were nearly sixty times what they were in 2018.”
The report comes as several different cryptocurrencies continue to gain popularity, despite many digital coins seeing a drop in price in the last several months.
“Of the reported crypto fraud losses that began on social media, most are investment scams,” the report said. “Indeed, since 2021, $575 million of all crypto fraud losses reported to the FTC were about bogus investment opportunities, far more than any other fraud type. The stories people share about these scams describe a perfect storm: false promises of easy money paired with people’s limited crypto understanding and experience.”
Chesnot/Getty
The report stated that these investment scammers will…
