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By John P. Mello Jr.
May 19, 2021 4:00 AM PT
Claims of losses from cryptocurrency scams skyrocketed from October 2020 to March 2021, according to a report released Monday by the Federal Trade Commission.
In its Consumer Protection Data Spotlight newsletter, the FTC revealed that during the October to March period nearly 7,000 consumers reported losing US$80 million. That compares to only 570 cryptocurrency scam reports amounting to $7.5 million in losses from October 2019 to March 2020.
The median loss reported was about $1,900, a nearly 1,000 percent increase over the same period a year ago.
The agency noted that as the value of cryptocurrencies like bitcoin continue to soar, new investors are eager to get in on the action, and scammers are more than willing to accommodate them.