Since the beginning of 2021, more than 46,000 people have reported losing over $1 billion in cryptocurrency scams, according to a study released on Friday by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).
According to the FTC, over half of those who reported losing digital currency in a scam claimed it began with an ad, post, or message on a social media network.
Last year, the cryptocurrency enthusiasm reached a fever pitch, with bitcoin reaching a record high of $69,000 in November.
According to reports, social media and cryptocurrency are a combustible mix for fraud, with $575 million in “bogus investment possibilities” accounting for approximately half of all losses tied to digital currency thefts.
According to the survey, nearly four out of every ten dollars lost in a social media-related scam was lost in crypto, much more than any other payment method, with Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp, and Telegram being the leading social media sites in such incidents.
According to the FTC, the average reported loss for a person was $2,600, and the top cryptocurrencies used to pay fraudsters were bitcoin, tether, and ether.
