Marylanders reported lost $69.1 million as a consequence of cryptocurrency investment fraud in 2023, according the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center.
Reports came from 668 residents.
Between January and August 2024, 482 Marylanders reported these crimes and lost nearly $54.5 million.
Scammers convince victims to add increasing amounts of money into fake financial investments using cryptocurrency. Scammers usually are overseas and use manipulation.
“Bottom line: never trust someone you haven’t met who claims to be an expert and can help you make money through a can’t-miss investment opportunity,” William J. DelBagno, FBI Baltimore special agent in charge, said. “We are seeing victims in their 20s and 30s all the way up to our senior citizens who are absolutely devastated by these schemes.”
The FBI offers these tips for recognizing scams:
Do not invest based the advice of someone you have only meet online, and do not disclose financial or personal identifying information, or send money, if a stranger contacts you.
Confirm the validity of investment opportunity or cryptocurrency investment claims, websites or apps.
Do not download or use apps for investing unless you can verify legitimacy.
Domain names can impersonate legitimate financial institutions, so be on the lookout for misspelled URLs.