Increase in Crypto Scams

Cryptocurrency scams are definitely on the rise. The FTC issued a press release this past month stating that since October, 2020 in the US alone “$80 million has been lost to cryptocurrency investment scams, an increase of more than ten-fold year-over-year”.

The FTC goes on to say that more than $2 million was reported lost to Elon Musk impersonator scams. According to their data, individuals between the ages of 20 and 49 were five times more likely to report losing money to cryptocurrency investment scams. During the six month period when this data was collected and analyzed “consumers in their 20s and 30s lost more money to investment scams than any other form of fraud. More than half of their investment scam losses were in cryptocurrency.”

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Why are there so many crypto scams?

With the surge in popularity for crypto trading it’s not a surprise that more and more scammers are coming out of the woodworks. It should be made clear that the number of crypto scammers has reached proportions that one could have never dreamed of. Every day the Scam News Channel adds numerous new scams to the crypto scam list. This daily occurrence of new scams popping up should be an area of concern for every investor out there.

It’s well known that criminal involvement in the crypto market is rampant. However what’s more concerning is that on a sociological level a significant amount of business in the cryptocurrency market is being generated and owned by criminals.

Criminals have been using cryptocurrency to fund their illegal activities and to steer clear of the government for some time, however the fact that there is a funnel of new funds being sent to criminals on a 24/7 basis presents a moral dilemma that crypto exchanges have yet to address. This is money coming from our friends, our uncles and unfortunately much of the time from our grandparents.

Binary scammers turned crypto

The sad reality is that these crypto scammers were being bred and trained in the past 15 years. They were first called binary options traders and Forex traders. When binary options became banned in multiple countries, crypto became the go to scheme. Now that cryptocurrency has gained global popularity and enthusiasm, it’s very easy for these scammers to lure in their prey.

These same binary options traders that got away with scamming billions over the past 15 years are trained in the sales and marketing aspects of their schemes. Unfortunately it’s far too easy for them to open up and close shop within a minutes notice. This is in part why so many of these sites are constantly popping up.

How do I know if it’s a crypto scam?

Crypto is as risky of an investment as any. If someone tries to tell you about how much you can profit by using their platform, you can best assume it’s a scam. To be sure, check our updated crypto scam list, or send us a message here.

You can also check our article on how to identify a forex scam which spells out what to look out for in a trading scam of any type.

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