The FBI received nearly 70,000 complaints in 2023 by victims of financial fraud involving bitcoin, ether and other cryptocurrencies, according to the FBI. The most rampant scheme was investment fraud, which accounted for $3.96 billion of the losses.

Americans were duped out of more than $5.6 billion last year through fraud schemes involving cryptocurrency, the FBI said that shows a 45% jump in losses from 2022.

“The decentralized nature of cryptocurrency, the speed of irreversible transactions, and the ability to transfer value around the world make cryptocurrency an attractive vehicle for criminals, while creating challenges to recover stolen funds,” wrote Michael Nordwall, assistant director of the FBI’s criminal investigative division.

Scammers will often make contact through dating apps or social media to build trust over several weeks or months before suggesting cryptocurrency investing, the FBI said. Once the relationship is built, they convince the targets to use fake websites or apps to invest their money, sometimes even allowing the victims to withdraw small amounts of money early on to make it seem legitimate.

FBI officials say Americans of all ages can be a target of such scams, and should be extremely cautious when presented with investment opportunities from people they’ve never met in real life.

TIPS TO PROTECT YOURSELF :

• Criminals will seek to instill a sense of urgency and isolation.
• When receiving an unsolicited call by an unknown caller claiming to work for a well-known company or government agency, hang up and independently research the company or agency’s publicly published phone number and call it to confirm authenticity of the original call.
• No legitimate law enforcement or government official will call to demand payment via a cryptocurrency kiosk.
• Never give personally identifying information to anyone without verifying the person is who they say they are.
• Verify the validity of any investment opportunity strangers or long-lost contacts offer on social media websites. If you have never met an individual in real life, even if you have spoken on the phone or video chatted, be very cautious of accepting investment advice or opportunities.
• Be on the lookout for domain or website names that impersonate legitimate financial institutions, especially cryptocurrency exchanges.
• Fraudulent businesses often use website addresses that mimic real financial institutions, but are often slightly different, to convince people the fraudulent website is legitimate.
• Do not download or use suspicious-looking apps as a tool for investing unless you can verify the legitimacy of the app.
• If an investment opportunity sounds too good to be true, it likely is. Be cautious of get rich -quick schemes.
• Investment involves risk. Individuals should invest based on their financial objectives and financial resources and, if in any doubt, should seek advice from a licensed financial adviser.

Full FBI Report here.