Crypto scam victims lose more than $1 billion since 2021: US govt report

business-standard.com:

More than 46,000 people reported losing over $1 billion in cryptocurrency scams since the start of 2021, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) said in a report on Friday.

Nearly half the people who reported losing digital currencies in a scam said it started with an ad, post or a message on a social media platform, according to the FTC. (https://bit.ly/3x2NRQx)

The craze for cryptocurrencies was at a fever pitch last year with bitcoin hitting a record high of $69,000 in November.

Reports point to social media and crypto as a combustible combination for fraud, the agency said, adding that about $575 million of all losses related to digital currency frauds were about "bogus investment opportunities".

Nearly four out of every ten dollars lost in a fraud originating on social media was lost in crypto, far more than any other payment method, with Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp and Telegram being the top social media platforms in such cases, according to the report.

The average reported loss for an individual was $2,600 and bitcoin, tether and ether were the top cryptocurrencies that people used to pay scammers, the FTC said.

(Reporting by Medha Singh and Bansari Mayur Kamdar in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta)

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

Business Standard has always strived hard to provide up-to-date information and commentary on developments that are of interest to you and have wider political and economic implications for the country and the world. Your encouragement and constant feedback on how to improve our offering have only made our resolve and commitment to these ideals