June 3, 2022, 2:38 PM
Consumers reported losing over $1 billion to fraud involving cryptocurrencies from January 2021 through March 2022, according to a new analysis from the Federal Trade Commission.
The FTC’s latest Consumer Protection Data Spotlight finds that most of the losses consumers reported involved bogus cryptocurrency investment opportunities, totaling $575 million in losses since January 2021. The scams often falsely promise investors that they can earn huge returns by investing in their cryptocurrency schemes.
The next largest losses reported by consumers were romance scams and business and government impersonation scams. Romance scams involve a love interest who tries to entice someone …