Crypto scam victims have lost more than $1 billion since 2021, the FTC says

Since the beginning of 2021, more than 46,000 people have reported losing over $1 billion in cryptocurrency scams, according to a report by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).
According to the FTC, nearly half of those who lost digital currency in a scam said it began with a social media ad, post, or message. Last year, the cryptocurrency craze was at an all-time high, with bitcoin hitting a record high of $69,000 in November.
According to reports, social media and cryptocurrency are a combustible combination for fraud, with $575 million in “bogus investment opportunities” accounting for about half of all losses related to digital currency fraud. Nearly four out of every ten dollars lost in a social media-related fraud was lost in cryptocurrency, far more than any other payment method, with Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp, and Telegram being the most commonly used social media platforms in such cases, says the report.