MORE THAN $1B LOST TO CRYPTO SCAMS: REPORT

WASHINGTON Americans have lost more than $1 billion to cryptocurrency scams since the start of last year, as criminals exploit rising popular interest in scoring quick digital riches, according to a new analysis by the Federal Trade Commission.

Crypto-based con jobs now account for a fourth of all dollars lost to such fraud, taking in more than 46,000 people from the beginning of 2021 through March, the report found. The losses in crypto last year were almost 60 times what they were in 2018.

And those numbers likely represent only a fraction of the total losses, since most of the crimes go unreported, according to Emma Fletcher, the FTC senior data researcher who wrote the report.

Fraudsters frequently lure victims on social media, then show their investments making fake gains. In some cases, the FTC found, investors successfully complete “test” withdrawals, convincing them the arrangement is sound and encouraging them to plow in more money that they are then unable to recover.

“Given that investment scams are really driving this, it's very important for people to understand that any promises of huge returns, or that your investments can be quickly multiplied, are obviously a scam,” Fletcher said. “No return on a crypto investment is guaranteed.”

So-called romance scams — in which thieves posing as potential love interests ensnare people on dating apps or social networks, then convince them to invest in fraudulent crypto schemes — cost victims another $185 million, according to the report.