Bitcoin investors lost more than $80m in six months to fraudsters
Bitcoin investors lost more ...
Subscribe to Newsletter

Bitcoin investors lost more than $80m in six months to fraudsters

8 June 2021
3479
2 min.
3
Bitcoin investors lost more than $80m in six months to fraudsters

Cryptocurrency markets

Fraud is thriving in cryptocurrency markets as bitcoin's rapid growth, lack of regulation and the anonymity of digital assets have created a breeding ground for cybercriminals. According to the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC), investors lost about $82 million to crypto-fraud during the fourth quarter of 2020 and the first quarter of 2021. This amount is more than 10 times higher than losses in the same six-month period a year earlier.

Between October and March, bitcoin jumped 450% to nearly $59k. Some other cryptocurrencies also showed strong gains during this time. Although the price of the world's most popular cryptocurrency has fallen significantly since reaching record highs and currently stands at around $33k, it is still above last year's figures.

The source says the scammers are targeting all bitcoin investors, from beginners to seasoned digital asset players. One major scam campaign involves the cryptocurrency LUB Token and plans to create a cryptocurrency exchange based on the popular Telegram messenger. On their now-defunct website and in press releases distributed via various cryptocurrency websites, the scammers promoted the new cryptocurrency LUB, promising investors a daily return of 10% on their investment. They eventually managed to convince hundreds of people to invest in the new cryptocurrency, mostly from the European region. According to reports, the defrauded investors in Germany alone lost from $600 thousand to $1.8 million. German police are investigating the case, but no details are available yet.

According to CipherTrace, which tracks cryptocurrency-related incidents, victims of fraudsters lost $432 million in the first four months of this year, while the amount of damage for 2019 is estimated at $4.1 billion. CipherTrace noted an increase in fraud in decentralized finance (DeFi), which includes providing various kinds of financial services with digital assets. In DeFi, fraudsters reportedly stole $83.4 million in the first quarter of this year, more than double the amount stolen in the same period a year earlier.

Companies3 in the news

Section:
Rating companies
Netflix
18 Mention
Instagram
16 Mention
X (Twitter)
11 Mention
Tesla
10 Mention
Amazon
8 Mention
TikTok
8 Mention
White House
7 Mention

NEW YORK NEWS

News from GlobalNY.biz is the freshest and most relevant information about high-profile events in the region. The task of the resource's news feed is to convey to readers with maximum accuracy and objectivity information about important events in business, politics, economy, healthcare, culture and other spheres of life in New York.
GlobalNY.biz news is a coverage of economic processes taking place in New York, the latest news of public life, incidents and an overview of political events. New York news is information about the activities of small and medium-sized businesses, the work of housing and communal services and utilities, the implementation of significant projects.
The site's journalists describe not only the life of the region, but also talk about the current state of the US economy. Everything you need to know about innovations in the field of industry and agriculture, economy and power is collected in the "News" section at GlobalNY.biz.
New York news quickly informs the reader, shows the real picture and opens up hot topics. Communication with government structures and business enables us to provide our readers with reliable, information-rich material. The main page of the portal contains the key news of New York!
Alena Potapova

Development Director
Population
8159793973
Died this year
46551819
Born this year
114525714