Fake promised giveaways by celebrities comparable to Tesla CEO Elon Musk are being utilized by scammers to money in on curiosity in cryptocurrencies, the US Federal Trade Commission mentioned on Monday in noting a bounce in complaints about cryptocurrency fraud since October.
In one kind of rip-off, individuals are informed that if they provide a specific amount of cryptocurrency to a “celebrity” they’ll get extra again.
“People have reported sending more than $2 million in cryptocurrency to Elon Musk impersonators over just the past six months,” the FTC mentioned.
Musk had been a supporter of cryptocurrencies however just lately knocked dogecoin by calling it “a hustle” on nationwide tv. He has additionally just lately mentioned that bitcoin wouldn’t be accepted to purchase a Tesla due to the environmental prices related to mining it.
Scammers additionally impersonate authorities authorities or a possible romantic companion, the FTC mentioned.
Overall, almost 7,000 folks reported losses of greater than $80 million since October, with a median lack of $1,900, the company mentioned. That`s twelve instances extra experiences of scams than the identical interval a yr earlier, the company mentioned.
People in their 20s and 30s had been the largest victims, reporting shedding way more cash on funding and cryptocurrency fraud than another kind of rip-off. Older folks, over 50, had been much less prone to report falling for the scams however once they did the losses had been greater, with a median lack of $3,250.
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