TOPEKA, Kan. (WIBW) – The Better Business Bureau’s (BBB) annual scam tracker risk report shows cryptocurrency scams jumped to the second most common scam reported to the agency in 2021, up from the number seven spot in 2020.
Experts expect frequency to grow.
“As we are all becoming more familiar with digital wallets and cryptocurrencies in general, scammers have used that as an opportunity to take advantage of consumers because a lot of us still aren’t totally familiar with how cryptocurrency works, and it’s like cash,” State Director of the BBB Denise Groene said Monday.
“The age demographic for cryptocurrency victims is between 25-64 years old so we tend to see that younger generations tend to feel more comfortable and are more aware of cryptocurrency so they’re more likely to use it as a method of payment.”
The BBB reports the average loss in cryptocurrency scams is $1,200.
“Cryptocurrency is essentially digital money, you can use an app you can purchase bitcoin and these scammers want you to send money via digital currency on these apps and once you send it, it’s like cash, so it’s gone,” she said.
“You can’t undo it, there’s no fraud department like for a credit card that you can contact and maybe get some money back, once it’s sent, it is gone.”
Groene said the best way to be protected from cryptocurrency scams is to be honest about the unknown.
“If you’re not familiar with the form of payment someone is requesting, it’s best not to…
