*US Federal Trade Commission鈥檚 fresh data indicates consumers have lost more than $80 million to these crypto scams since October 2020

Emmanuel Akosile | 绿帽献妻

Referencing almost 7,000 reports from consumers about various types of scams in the last seven months, a new analysis from the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) showed that consumers lost more than $80 million to cryptocurrency investment scams since October 2020.

绿帽献妻 gathered the regulatory agency said it received nearly 7,000 reports from consumers about these types of scams in the past seven months, a time period in which cryptocurrency was highly buzzed about in the world鈥檚 markets.

The Commission observed that many of the reports were from people in their 20s and 30s.

This group, it noted, reported losing more money to investment scams than to any other type of fraud, and more than half of their reported investment scam losses were in cryptocurrency.

The median amount consumers reported losing to the scams was $1,900, report stated.

People 50 and older were less likely to report losing money on cryptocurrency investment scams, but their losses were much steeper when they did.

The FTC said this group reported a median loss of $3,250.

As scams come in a variety of forms while investment scams topped the list as the most lucrative way for scammers to get cryptocurrency, the Commission emphasised scammers are known for using 鈥渨hatever story works to get people to send crypto.鈥�

The regulator said: 鈥淭hat often involves impersonating a government authority or a well-known business.

鈥淔or example, many people have told the FTC they loaded cash into Bitcoin ATM machines to pay imposters claiming to be from the Social Security Administration.

鈥淥thers reported losing money to scammers posing as Coinbase, a well-known cryptocurrency exchange.鈥�

The reported added that cryptocurrency investment scams come in a number of forms. Sometimes they begin as an offer of investment 鈥渢ips鈥� or 鈥渟ecrets鈥� in online message boards that ultimately lead people to bogus investment Web sites.

Other times, a scammer will promise that a celebrity associated with cryptocurrency will multiply and send back any cryptocurrency you send to their wallet.

For example, the agency said consumers reported losing more than $2 million to Elon Musk鈥檚 impersonators alone since last fall in the country.

Thus, in avoiding a cryptocurrency scam, the FTC offers these top tips for spotting a cryptocurrency scam:

1. You鈥檙e promised big returns. Promises of guaranteed huge returns or claims that your cryptocurrency will be multiplied are always scams, the FTC warns.
2. Insistence on cryptocurrency. 鈥淚f a caller, love interest, organisation, or anyone else insists on cryptocurrency, you can bet it鈥檚 a scam,鈥� said the agency.

According to the Commission, the bottom line is that the cryptocurrency itself is the investment.

Anyone who claims to know of a better way to make money off of it is running a scam.

鈥淵ou make money if you鈥檙e lucky enough to sell it for more than you paid. Period. Don鈥檛 trust people who say they know a better way,鈥� FTC warned consumers.