In short
- The Better Business Bureau ranks crypto as the second riskiest scam.
- The BBB only added crypto as a potential scam in 2018.
- The average amount lost is $ 3,000.
Cryptocurrency is the second riskiest scam, according to the Better Business Bureau, a non-profit organization that provides Americans and Canadians with information about businesses and charities that can be trusted.
The BBB scam tracker only added crypto as an option in 2019. Now it is second after the risk scams, it ad in a new report.
According to the BBB, 32% of crypto scams involved the purchase of crypto; 23.4% used digital assets as an investment opportunity; and 31% of crypto scams involved a Chinese C2CX crypto exchange. Most forms of cryptographic scams have been carried out via email.
False crypto exchanges can be a way to lose money. Image: Shutterstock.
Crypto scams were linked to romantic scams for the highest average losses, at $ 3,000. In comparison, most scams resulted in an average loss of $ 160. The figure of $ 3,000 is a big increase compared to 2018, when the average amount lost was $ 900.
But crypto scams weren’t the most popular form of scams. Only 273 people have reported cryptographic scams to the BBB. In comparison, 9,050 people reported online shopping fraud.
Although crypto scams weren’t as numerous as other scams, according to the BBB, 68.5% of victims lost money when exposed to them.
The BBB report includes a story from Jose from Arizona. He had received a private message on Instagram about crypto trading from a person named Elizabeth, who had promised that she would manage the business side of things. All he had to do was send Bitcoin.
“After about two months, I asked to withdraw the funds, and I was shown a bank site, which looked fake,” he said. “They told me that I had to pay $ 500 to the bank to get a code to withdraw the $ 25,000 that I had in my account. In total, I lost about $ 1,200 – I was so frustrated. “
He advises people to talk to friends before making financial decisions. “It was my mistake to keep this to myself,” he added.
The dark side of crypto
The BBB only tracks scams in North America. But according to a November 2019 report from MyCrypto Security Director Harry Denley, the highest victim rates for crypto scams are found in Indonesia, Nigeria, the United States and Vietnam.
Denley had been followed clicks on crypto scams since June 2018 and revealed that 14% of victims were in Nigeria; 11% in Indonesia; nine percent in the United States and eight percent in Vietnam.
It’s hard to measure the real extent of crypto scams, but the old adage still applies: “Not your keys; not your Bitcoin. ”