Cryptocurrency crimes in the United Kingdom are on the rise throughout the first nine months of 2021, a recent Bloomberg report said.
Hackers siphon $200 million from victims
The report said victims of crypto fraud have collectively lost up to $200 million to fraudsters and hackers, with more than 7,000 incidents of various schemes used to swindle innocent persons documented.
It went on to say that the amount of money lost this year is already 30% bigger compared to the total amount lost in 2020.
A huge chunk of the victims of these crypto crimes was, predictably, between the ages of 18 and 45. Crypto investments are very popular among people in this age bracket, as evidenced by several surveys.
As a result, because many of them lack “investment experience” in the financial industry, they have become easy prey for con artists.
Bait in the form of celebrity promotions
Fraudsters generally lure their victims in with phony celebrity endorsements, according to Bloomberg. Nearly 80% of the complaints linked to a fraudulent endorsement were connected to cryptocurrency, the report said.
It’s worth noting that celebrity endorsements aren’t just popular in the United Kingdom. One in five U.S. individuals reported seeing anything about Kim Kardashian’s Instagram post supporting the cryptocurrency Ethereum Max, a previous report by Crypto Slate disclosed.
Many of the respondents to the poll said they had invested in the crypto asset because of the Kardashians’ advocacy, demonstrating that many crypto investors consider endorsements and promotions to be financial advice.
Image courtesy of Cointelegraph News/YouTube
