Posted on 03/09/2024 9:31:27 PM PST by nickcarraway
As technology gets more sophisticated, so do scammers. As bad actors adapt to the times, cryptocurrency scams are becoming a bigger problem, duping Americans out of huge sums, the Better Business Bureau said.
In its annual Scam Tracker report, the BBB said investment and cryptocurrency scams were the “riskiest” type of scam in 2023. Scammers are using people’s general lack of understanding about cryptocurrency to their advantage, the Bureau said, promising huge returns on investment for purchasing Bitcoin.
One victim, who shared her story, said she came upon a cryptocurrency scam while watching a YouTube video about Bitcoin investments. People in the comments said they made money using a trading service, so she reached out to the investment firm.
Red flags when dating someone online
“Shanell was told to buy Bitcoin through Cash App and send $1,500. Though it stretched her financially, she sent the money. After 10 days, she received a screenshot that showed her account increased to $7,345.56,” the BBB said.
The problems came when she tried to withdraw her earnings. She was told to pay a $700 commission plus an $800 broker’s fee. The broker still wouldn’t give her the so-called earning, demanding another $1,200 in fees. That’s when she realized it was a scam.
The median loss reported for investment and cryptocurrency scams was $3,800
Another scam growing more prevalent since the pandemic are employment schemes. You may think you’re accepting a job offer, but you’re actually being recruited to help with fraud. That happened to one St. Louis woman whose new “employer” deposited $2,400 into her bank account, then asked her to go purchase $2,400 in gift cards and send them the numbers on the back. Her bank later told her the $2,400 check was fraudulent, and she never heard from her “employer” again.
‘Layers of deception’: Federal agencies warn about AI scams Employment scams were more likely to target people under 45, while investment and cryptocurrency scams targeted older people, the BBB said. Romance scams were also a growing problem, especially for those over 65.
The 10 riskiest consumer scams in 2023, according to the BBB, were:
Investment/cryptocurrency
Employment
Online purchase
Home improvement
Romance
Advance fee loan
Phishing/social engineering
Credit repair/debt relif
Tech support
Travel/vacation/timeshare
To determine how “risky” each type of scam was, the BBB looked at a few metrics: how prevalent the scam was last year, how much money victims lost, and how likely victims are to lose money once targeted.
But money isn’t the only thing victims lose to scammers. They also reported losing time, compromising their personal information and risking their credit scores.
To avoid falling victim to scams, the BBB advises people:
Trust your gut if the offer sounds too good to be true
I wanted to get a credit card and buy an item at HD. The clerk did all the entering and I got the papers to buy the item then.
About 5 days later I got a text (from HP??) saying they needed my address to deliver an item. It was to come to HD not me and wasn’t due for sometime. I didn’t reply but kept the message to show USPS. She said they never send messages like that.
We had a HD long ago until we closed it because someone called and wanted to know if our CC information was correct. We knew it was someone from HD.
Whether or not, we closed the card, cut it up and sent it back.
When I did get the new HD card, not activated by me, I cut it up and all my CC’s but one. Now, I get cash from my bank and carry only what I am going to spend.
No ATM.
I hope the banks stay.
Why can’t Facebook and Quora get rid of male stalkers? You block them - same names keep reappearing. Usually some ‘veteran’ in Delaware.
I recently found myself needing an apartment after being out of the rental game for a long time. In San Diego, everyone now wants the deposit and 1st month rent Venmoed or e-transferred to them before you get the keys. I know it's a safety precaution for the landlord with so many deadbeat tenants. But it's also an opportunity for scammers.
Desperate to find a place, I almost got scammed out of $3600 before my spidey senses kicked in and I realized there was no apartment.
If I even answer them (I rarely do) I tell them I am a Nigerian Prince who has been unjustly deprived of my office and I will reward them with 100,000 if they will help me regain my rightful position and fortune.
They only have to send a registered bank check to this address in the amount of 4000 dollars.
I don’t usually hear anything back from them.
Yeah; but we have all known for many, many years that was a scam.
My aunt lost everything to a Jamaican Sweepstakes scam. When she tried to pull out, they sent her a picture of her door at the Assisted living place where she lived and threatened to harm her. Inside job.
I get some of these calls also, my responses are usually the same.
Dad/Granpa——I’m in jail!
Standard response: DON’T DO THE CRIME IF YOU CAN’T DO THE TIME!
We would like to purchase your house/property.
Response ——Go F#CK YOURSELF, not for sale at any price.
Sheesh! I’m gussing they still make money no matter what we want.
Of course it is a scam,
they would not be making calls all day except to make money - yours that is.
Mail order brides usually end up supporting the entire village;)
In the spring of 1859, folks were concerned about another kind of hustle: A man who went by the name of A.V. Lamartine drifted from town to town in the Midwest — pretending to attempt suicide.He would walk into a hotel — according to newspaper accounts from Salem, Ore., to Richmond, Va., and other places — and appear depressed as he requested a room. Once settled in, he would ring a bell for assistance, and when someone arrived, Lamartine would point to an empty bottle on the table labeled "2 ounces of laudanum" and call for a clergyman.
People rushing to his bedside to help him would find a suicide note. The Good Samaritans would summon a doctor, administer emetics and nurse him as he recovered.
Somehow Lamartine knew his situation would engender medical and financial assistance from kind strangers in the 19th century. The scenarios ended this way, as one Brooklyn reporter explained: "He is restored with difficulty and sympathetic people raise a purse for him and he departs.
Using this modus operandi, the reporter added, Lamartine was making his way across Ohio — raising $25 in Dayton and $40 in Sandusky and departing "with a free pass on the railroad to commit suicide at some other place."
It seems like a crazy way to make a living. But in earlier America, cheaters concocted the kookiest cons.
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