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Over £27 million lost to scams involving crypto and forex investments

The FCA and Action Fraud have reported that victims have lost over £27 million in total in 2018/2019 to crypto and forex investment scams. Action Fraud reports show that on average, victims were each scammed out of £14,600 in 2018/2019.

The FCA is warning the public to be wary of investment scams carried out via bogus online trading platforms. Fraudsters often use social media to promote their ‘get rich quick’ online trading platforms, and often use fake celebrity endorsements and images of luxury items as well as links to professional-looking websites where consumers are persuaded to invest.

The FCA is running a ScamSmart campaign in order to raise awareness of online trading scams. ScamSmart adverts will be run on social media, with the aim to make consumers more sceptical of ‘get rich quick’ trading scams promoted online.

In addition, the FCA has published a new webpage setting out how online trading scams work, how consumers can avoid scams and what steps they can take if they fall victim to scams.

 

FIN. Team