MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (September 10, 2024) – If you were offered the chance to triple an investment in two months, would you take it? It might be hard to say no, but Better Business Bureau Serving Eastern Carolinas warns it might actually be too good to be true.
New data shows that since 2020, the Better Business Bureau (BBB) has received more than 4,000 reports to BBB Scam Tracker from consumers about investment scams, many of which involved cryptocurrency or a new take on romance fraud.
Reports to BBB show that investment scams often take the form of long-term confidence scams, where fraudsters pursue romantic and platonic relationships to gain the trust of their targets. That has caused losses to rise, with the median report increasing from $1,000 in 2021 to almost $6,000 this year.
How investment scams work:
In some cases, losses grow into devastating amounts.
An increasingly common tactic is revealed by an experience of a man from Fayetteville, NC who told BBB a woman reached out to him via text message and befriended him. After a few weeks of having regular conversations, she shared that she was into trading and convinced him to join her. At first she told him to start with investing $1,000. A few days later, she insisted he invest $14,000 to see a higher return.
Later on, after being “extremely pushy,” she urged him to deposit $50,000 to see an even higher profit, but he refused. When he tried to withdraw his money from his investment wallet, he was denied and received an email saying he needed to pay in order for them to release his funds.
One woman in the Florence, SC area reported to BBB about an investment scam she encountered on social media. The scammer, posing as an acquaintance, said they could help her grow some income through trading. She ended up losing $500 to the scammer who told her to send the money through Cash App to be invested.
Red flags for consumers and businesses to avoid cryptocurrency investment scams:
* Deals involving little-known cryptocurrencies
* Requests to share your cryptocurrency wallet with someone you don’t trust completely
* Strategies offering guaranteed returns
* An investment that takes little effort or time to pull off
* Someone offers their secret strategy or says not to research their claims
* Too-good-to-be-true claims
* A stranger suddenly wants to befriend you
Where to report investment scams
* Better Business Bureau or BBB Scam Tracker
* Federal Trade Commission (FTC) or call 877-FTC-Help
* Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) or call (202) 324-3000 for general reports
* FBI Investigation and reporting hub for scams listed at link
* Find your state’s Attorney General online
About BBB serving Eastern Carolinas
Better Business Bureau serving Eastern Carolinas is a 501(c)(6) not-for-profit corporation serving 48 counties in North and South Carolina. The organization is funded primarily by BBB Accredited Business fees from over 5,200 local businesses and professional firms. BBB promotes integrity, consumer confidence and business ethics through business self-regulation in the local marketplace. Services provided by BBB include reports on companies and charitable organizations, general monitoring of advertising in the marketplace, consumer/business education programs and dispute resolution services. All services are provided at no cost to the public, with the occasional exception of mediation and arbitration. Visit BBB.org.
