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Consures Lost $ 5.7 Billion to Investment scams In 2024 – More than in any other type of fraud and up 24% from 2023, according To new data from the federal trade commission.
Investments Scams General Involve Claims that a consumer will get big returns by investment in a hot new moneymaking scheme, according to the ftc.
Most People – 79% – Who reported an investment scam to the ftc lost money, with the typical victim losing more than more than $ 9,000 on average, the agency said.
Since ftc data is based on consumer reports of fraud, the True Scope of Investment Fraud is Likely MUCH Higher after Factoring in People who Don’T Step Forward.
“These scams are decided a really huge problem for consumers,” Said John Breyault, The National Consures LEAGUE’s League’s Vice President of Public policy, telecommunications and fruud.
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AI, Cryptocurrency Contribute to Investment Fraud
Common Investments Frauds Include “Pig-Butchering” Scams, A Name That References The Practice of Fattening a Pig Before Sla group.
The Fraudsters often Contact Victims out of Nowhere – Perhaps Via Text, Social Media or a Dating App – To Try to Develop Relationships and Gain Trust Before Pitting Investment Opportunities Supposedly yield high returns, often in virtual assets such as cryptocurrency, experts said.
Thought the Investments May Seem Legitimate, Criminals Eventually disappear with the consumers’ Money.
It has gotten emier to commit these and other related frauds as artificial intelligence has helped make criminals more convincing, thought as in using deepfakes, breast said. Deepfakes are manipulated videos or other images or sounds in which people can say and do things that seem real but are not.
Organized Crime Networks has also also Establed Scam Operations Centers Across Southeast Asia, In Countries Including Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar, according to the council on foreign relations. The centers are staffed by thousands of people, often illassally traficked and forced to carry out these investment schemes globally, it said.
Criminal Networks often Use Cryptocurrency to Facilitate Pig-Butchering Frauds BeCause It Lets Them “MOVE SUBSSTANTIAL FUNDS Easily, Cheaply, and WitHOUT MUCH FEAR OFERECTION,” Researchers A The University of Texas at Austin Wrote in a Recent Research paper,
How to Reduce Investment Fraud Risk
While there’s no “silver bullet” to protect against fraud, there are ways consumers can reduce their risk, breast said. Here are three characteristics that run through many frauds, he said:
- Urgency. Be wary of any pitch that has a form of urgency attached to it, breasty said. The Ftc warns That scammers “Want you to act before you have time to think. Corrupted. “
- Unusual payment method. Scammers often ask victims to pay in specific or unusual ways, breasty said. “They often insist on the back of the card, “The ftc said.
- Isolation. Scammers will try to isolate Victims so they do they do they do. They might say things like, “No one will be you if you tell them about this, ‘or’ the cops will come get you if you report it, ‘Or’ your loved ons will be in danger, ‘” Waryault SAID.
(Tagstotranslate) Federal Trade Commission (T) Generative ai (T) Artificial Intelligence (T) Securities Fraud (T) Consumer fraud