Investment scams, including those involving cryptocurrency, remained the riskiest scam type in 2024, according to a new report from the Better Business Bureau.
Financial grooming scams are often complex and devastating for victims.
It can take weeks or months for the scammers to build trust with their targets.
Once that happens, the scammer encourages the person to try investing, often in cryptocurrency.
It always starts small, as trust builds over time. While the investment “grows,” the scammer encourages them to invest even more money.
But then the person realizes too late, once they’ve invested a significant amount, that the platform is fake, and they can’t get their money back.
More than 85 per cent of people who were targeted by investment/cryptocurrency scams, No. 1 riskiest, reported losing money to BBB Scam Tracker.
It also had the highest median dollar loss at $5,000.
Investment scams take many forms, including pressure to purchase, trade, or store digital assets (cryptocurrency) with fraudulent exchanges. Of those who reported an investment scam, more than 45 per cent said the incident involved cryptocurrency, and over 20% said the scam was perpetrated by an online contact.
