There was a significant rise seen in romance scams regarding cryptocurrency. Due to Valentine’s week, the frequency of scams has increased in recent weeks.
FBI warns about the romance crypto scams
As per the reports from Cointelegraph, the number of these scams has rapidly increased. The FBI San Francisco division’s territory reported a loss of more than $64 million in such scams this week. On the other hand, the number was just $35 million in 2020.
The San Francisco Bay Area has been the main region where the scamsters are targeting. The most number of reports filed by the FBI was reported in this area. They also claim that due to Valentine’s week, the scams have increased, which has led to cryptocurrency loss by the victims.
FBI San Francisco field office alerted the public
A few days ago, there was a scare of these scams, and hence the FBI San Francisco field office was already aware of the possible threat. A romance scam is a scam that basically affects both men and women. In these scams, the scamster will ask for money or, in this case, the crypto transfers to his account in order to indulge in a romantic relationship.
There were more than 742 complaints filed only in the Northern District of California. The number has increased from all the previous year data. The scamster attacks the victims emotionally and makes them vulnerable to transfer crypto amounts to their wallets. More than 23,000 complaints were registered in the year 2020, and a huge amount of $600 million was lost in the scam in the mentioned year.
These scamsters work by gaining trust.
One of the unique facts about these types of scams is the fact that they attack by winning trust. In the first step, it is seen that they even transfer money or crypto to the victim’s accounts, telling him about some schemes to make a profit. On the other hand, they also slowly indulge romance in the interaction, which makes the person very vulnerable and eventually loses money and crypto.
