Security News > 2021 > May > Over $80 million lost to cryptocurrency investment scams since October
The US Federal Trade Commission says that over $80 million were lost to cryptocurrency investment scams, according to roughly 7,000 reports received since October 2020.
The most vulnerable group to this type of scam were consumers aged 20 to 49 who were five times more likely to lose money, with more than half of all investment scam losses they reported being linked to cryptocurrency.
"The numbers are especially striking for people in their 20s and 30s: this group reported losing far more money on investment scams than on any other type of fraud, and more than half of their reported investment scam losses were in cryptocurrency," the FTC said.
The most recent such 'operation' saw Twitter scammers taking advantage of Elon Musk's hosting of Saturday Night Live to push cryptocurrency scams and attempting to steal people's Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Dogecoin.
These scam tactics have been immensely successful as scammers have been able to steal millions of dollars worth of cryptocurrency from unsuspecting users.
More info on cryptocurrency scams and how to report them can be found on FTC's website.