Americans lost USD185 million to crypto romance scams: What are they
Nearly 46,000 Americans reported losing over USD1 billion in crypto to scams since early 2021, according to a recent Federal Trade Commission (FTC) report.
According to an analysis by BanklessTimes, romance scams are the second most common type of crypto scam.
"Victims of romance scams learn that the heart is not so smart the hard way. Their search for love makes them easy pickings for conniving individuals that dupe them out of their money, "said Jonathan Merry, CEO of BanklessTimes.
On average, victims of romance crypto scams lose about USD10,000.
After hooking the victim, the fraudsters will "offer advice" on how to invest in crypto.
"By now, the victims are so trusting that they're willing to follow their 'advice' to their detriment," said the report.
Business and government impersonation scams are the other forms. These accounted for losses of USD133 million in Q1 2022. These involve the fraudster impersonating someone in authority and then gaining the victim's credentials.
Younger people are more susceptible to crypto scams. Statistics show that most likely victims are in the 20 to 40-age bracket.
"The worst hit are people in their thirties, who suffer 35 percent of the losses. People in their seventies lose nearly USD12,000 in these scams," said Elizabeth Kerr, a financial content specialist.
But romance scams aren't the only ones that Americans fall for.
The most common type of crypto fraud are investment scams and since 2021, the US FTC has received complaints of losses totaling USD575 million due to this kind of fraud.
( Details and picture courtesy from Source, the content is auto-generated from RSS feed.)
Join our official telegram channel for free latest updates and follow us on Google News here.
