Crypto Investment Fraud Increases by 183% in 2022 – FBI Reports

37

The FBI has noticed that people losing money in cryptocurrency investments has gotten worse. Specifically, they saw a 183% increase from 2021 to 2022 – going from $907 million to $2.57 billion. They are warning everyone to be extra careful when considering investing in cryptocurrencies.

FBI Issues Alarming Warning About Skyrocketing Crypto Investment Scams

Recently, the FBI published their 2022 Internet Crime Report. The report is based on information collected from the agency’s IC3 website where people can report cyber attacks and other suspicious online events.

In 2022, investment scams were very costly and reported a lot to the IC3. That year, complaints about investment fraud rose from $1.45 billion to $3.31 billion, which is an increase of 127%. What’s more, cryptocurrency investment fraud went up even higher – it grew from $907 million in 2021 to an amazing $2.57 billion in 2022, or by 183%!

An alarming number of people have fallen victim to “Crypto-investment scams” where the victims rack up huge debts to pay off their losses. The age group that is most affected by this type of scam are people between 30-49 years old.

The FBI has released news about cryptocurrency investment scams that have been happening in 2022. These scams include things like money-making opportunities, hacked social media accounts, fake celebrity endorsements, real estate programs, and jobs that don’t actually exist.

The FBI wants to advise the public of this significant increase in these types of fraudulent crimes involving cryptocurrency investments. They’ve sent out a public service announcement to remind people to stay vigilant and protect themselves against crypto fraud.

The FBI recently said that criminals have stolen more than two billion dollars from people in the United States in 2022 with something called a ‘confidence scam’. This basically means that criminals make someone trust them, and then steal their money. They usually do this by pretending to love them or talking about investing in cryptocurrency.

What do you think about the warning from the FBI? Let us know what you think by writing a comment!