According to the Better Business Bureau in the United States, the second riskiest scams that can be found nowadays are none other than those involving cryptocurrencies. As a matter of fact, the organization noted that payments made in cryptocurrencies, which eventually led to losses, had increased twofold by 2020. On Friday, they released their BBB Scam Tracker Risk Report for 2021. According to the report, businesses and individuals submitted data to BBB Scam Tracker, which was utilized to understand just how these scams operate. Further details that are obtained via this data, includes the scams that have the most impact, who they are targeting and more.
As per its website, the BBB was founded back in 1912 and is a nonprofit, private organization that is focused on developing marketplace trust. The report disclosed that back in 2020, crypto scams had been the seventh riskiest ones to exist, but they rapidly climbed to the second riskiest within a year’s time. As far as the riskiest scams are concerned, the top position was taken up by online purchase scams. Of all the scams that had been reported to the BBB Scam Tracker in 2021, these online purchase scams contributed to about 37.4% of them.
The second spot had belonged to employment scams, but in 2021, these particular scams slid down to the third spot. The report said that even though only 1.9% of the scams that had been reported to the BBB Scam Tracker were cryptocurrency scams, the median dollar loss in these cases was significantly higher. It was around $1,200, whereas the overall median loss is around $169. The report further disclosed that almost 66% of victims who were targeted by this particular type of scam ended up losing their money. The BBB said that they had received a number of reports, which showed that some people had been targeted by these scammers on various social media platforms.
The scammers had reached out to these people and offered to help them in making bitcoin investments. This report was produced by the BBB Institute for Marketplace Trust. Its executive director, Melissa Lanning Trumpower, said that scammers are known to constantly switch their tactics and now it appears that they have decided to perpetuate fraud by expanding to cryptocurrency. The report from the Better Business Bureau also included some tips that could come in handy for avoiding crypto scams altogether.
It stated that people need to be careful of anyone promising them good returns without much risk. The report further said that these scammers are known to hack into your social media accounts and pretend to befriend you. The BBB also recommended that people should avoid using online payment systems for making payments to those they do not know. It added that it is recommended for people to visit the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) website to check whether they are dealing with a broker or not. This report shows that crypto is becoming more and more mainstream and the risks do need to be addressed.