Crypto scams on dating apps on the rise

The amount of funds stolen in this way increased by 80% for 2021

04.03.2022 - 14:35

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1 min

What’s new? The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has published a report on the increasing cases of scams on dating apps like Tinder. The amount of cryptocurrency lost as a result of “romance” scams increased by 80% for 2021, for a total of $139 million in damages.

FTC’s report

What schemes do scammers use? The criminals usually pretend to be military personnel and ingratiate themselves into the confidence of lonely people. After a while, they ask for money to pay, for example, for moving expenses. To do this, the scammers offer the victim to use of cryptocurrency, as it is more difficult to trace.

Another popular scam method is so-called “pig butchering.” The scammers ingratiate themselves with a person and offer them lucrative investment opportunities by sending a link to a fake cryptocurrency exchange. After the first investment, the fake website reports that the investment is profitable. The victim continues to send funds until they realize they have stumbled into a scam.

FTC’s representatives ask internet users to check URLs of well-known platforms more carefully. The fake versions of Crypto.com and Binance already exist.

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