Crypto romance scams: What to watch out for this Valentine’s

cnbctv18.com:

With the rapid rise of cryptocurrencies, scamsters are using every trick in the book to steal them. They take advantage of gullible investors who jump into the market without proper knowledge or research.

And as we step into the Valentine’s week, it’s the romantics that may be the prime targets of scamsters.The United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has issued a warning against what they dub as romance scams. This warning comes off the heel of various complaints filed with the agency’s Internet Crime Complaint Centre (IC3) in the Sans Francisco Bay area.

Victims within just the FBI San Francisco division’s territory lost more than $64 million to romance scams compared to just over $35 million in 2020, according to the FBI report.The FBI define a ‘romance scam’ as a scam where a malicious actor creates a fake account and tries to lure victims with the prospects of a romantic relationship online. The scamster then proceeds to convince them into transferring funds.

The scam victims can be both men and women.Also Read| Metaverse cryptos: Top 5 tokens with market cap under $10 million to keep on radarBut romance scams are not limited to the Sans Francisco area. There have been reports by US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) that show that romance scams have been happening all over the country and across all age groups.The reported losses suffered by unsuspecting victims totalled roughly $547 million in 2021, per a Bitcoinist article.

The median loss reported by individuals increased with age. Those aged 70 or above older reported median losses of $9,000, while for those between 18 and 29 it was around $750, the Bitcoinist said quoting the FTC.The IC3 have received over 20,000 complaints regarding romance scams in