When they really try to cash out, they’re told to send more crypto for (fake) fees, and they don’t get any of their money back. Some people report making a small “test” withdrawal – just enough to convince them it’s safe to go all in. People report that investment websites and apps let them track the growth of their crypto, but it’s all fake. But those crypto “investments” go straight to a scammer’s wallet.
Investment scammers claim they can quickly and easily get huge returns for investors. 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. 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.
Of the reported crypto fraud losses that began on social media, most are investment scams. The top platforms identified in these reports were Instagram (32%), Facebook (26%), WhatsApp (9%), and Telegram (7%). ĭuring this period, nearly four out of every ten dollars reported lost to a fraud originating on social media was lost in crypto, far more than any other payment method. Nearly half the people who reported losing crypto to a scam since 2021 said it started with an ad, post, or message on a social media platform. Reports point to social media and crypto as a combustible combination for fraud. These considerations are not unique to crypto transactions, but they all play into the hands of scammers. And most people are still unfamiliar with how crypto works. Crypto transfers can’t be reversed – once the money’s gone, there’s no getting it back. There’s no bank or other centralized authority to flag suspicious transactions and attempt to stop fraud before it happens. Ĭrypto has several features that are attractive to scammers, which may help to explain why the reported losses in 2021 were nearly sixty times what they were in 2018. The top cryptocurrencies people said they used to pay scammers were Bitcoin (70%), Tether (10%), and Ether (9%). The median individual reported loss? A whopping $2,600. Since the start of 2021, more than 46,000 people have reported losing over $1 billion in crypto to scams – that’s about one out of every four dollars reported lost, more than any other payment method. Although it’s yet to become a mainstream payment method, reports to the FTC show it’s an alarmingly common method for scammers to get peoples’ money. About the FTC Show/hide About the FTC menu itemsįrom Super Bowl ads to Bitcoin ATMs, cryptocurrency seems to be everywhere lately.News and Events Show/hide News and Events menu items.Advice and Guidance Show/hide Advice and Guidance menu items.Competition and Consumer Protection Guidance Documents.Enforcement Show/hide Enforcement menu items.
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