Crypto News & Opinion Americans report losing over $1 billion to cryptocurrency scams

[Gandalf_The_Grey]

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https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/americans-report-losing-over-1-billion-to-cryptocurrency-scams/

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) says over 46,000 people Americans have reported losing more than $1 billion worth of cryptocurrency to scams between January 2021 and March 2022.

This is a significant increase compared to last year's report issued by the FTC, when the agency revealed that roughly $80 million were lost to cryptocurrency investment scams based on around 7,000 reports.

Today's report aligns with the FBI's 2021 Internet Crime Report [PDF]. The U.S. law enforcement agency said that tens of thousands of reports pointed to over $1.6 billion in cryptocurrency losses.

"In 2021, the IC3 received 34,202 complaints involving the use of some type of cryptocurrency, such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, or Ripple," the FBI said [PDF].

"While that number showed a decrease from 2020's victim count (35,229), the loss amount reported in IC3 complaints increased nearly seven-fold, from 2020's reported amount of $246,212,432, to total reported losses in 2021 of more than $1.6 billion."

Today, the FTC also added that one in four dollars paid to scammers within the last year had been paid using cryptocurrency.