The BBB study found a lack of regulation and consumer education about cryptocurrency led to increased fraud and financial losses.
SEATTLE – In 2021, ing Better Business Bureau said it received just under 2,500 complaints about financial losses linked to cryptocurrency scams. The loss amounted to only $ 8 million.
“We also received more than 1,200 fraud investigation reports with losses just embarrassing, again, of $ 8 million,” said Logan Hickle, BBB of Washington’s manager of relations and communications. “Then, we also received 579 negative reviews from cryptocurrency companies alone.”
Hickle said the Federal Trade Commission estimates cryptocurrency losses of $ 750 million in 2021 and by 2020, the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaints Center estimates $ 246 million in losses.
To protect themselves, Hickle said people need to be aware that there are two general protections that don’t apply to cryptocurrency at the moment, and that is credit card power production and FDIC insurance.
Falling victims to cryptocurrency scams isn’t much different from the long-running scams people have reported to the BBB for several years.
“Someone might message you on social media that they want to make a relationship and after a few days or weeks of knowing you, they might say, ‘Hey, I’ve made all this money to invest with cryptocurrency, why don’t you invest here and there. how long have you been investing more? ” ujare Hickle. “You also want to be very careful if someone specifically asks you to pay anything in cryptocurrency. It’s a huge red flag and no one with the government will ever get this form of payment.”
For more cryptocurrency security reminders, watch the interview in the video player above.
To view the BBB report on cryptocurrency fraud, click here.
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