Over £27 million reported lost to crypto and forex investment scams

Forex And Crypto-Based Fraudulent Deals 

Cryptocurrencies and online platforms have become the current touchstones in financial products where the digital-first nature of the asset makes it appealing to young consumers. Many apps offer crypto-deals with no entry barriers. 

The digital marketers post details about the assets on social sites where there are multiple self-proclaimed finance gurus offering advice about the trading charts. 

The amateur investors join the YouTube communities and pay to enter the groups to learn to invest, hoping to earn a lot instantly. One such student aged 20 has 327K followers on TikTok, and he shares knowledge about affiliate marketing and entrepreneurship. 

Social platforms have been made liable by the government bodies for allowing users to post messages portraying luxurious lifestyles, which they pretend they earned through crypto deals. These people show off shopping bags, cars, villas and promise the followers can become super rich quickly by following their tips. 

They claim they quadrupled their initial investments in crypto markets. Many such accounts post testimonials to depict the rewarding lifestyle earned through digital trades to elicit novice investors to inspire them to divulge funds into digital markets. 

Unfortunately, the modern technical tools are not yet sophisticated enough to identify bogus accounts that promote the so-called pump-and-dump scheme to encourage the followers to invest in driving the price up. At the same time, the self-styled market gurus sell courses, but they do not invest. 

The regulatory bodies' want people to be alert and avoid unauthorised firms as over £27mn were lost through such offers in 2018 -2019. The FCA launched awareness to make consumers perceive the bogus trades. The figures released by the government bodies are startling, so they want people to be alert and ensure the necessary checks are made to avoid getting deceived into such deals. 

How To Protect Yourself?

• Avoid offers made over an unsolicited phone call or social media, and think twice before making any such investment. Instead, buy in thoroughly researched firms or get independent advice from a trusted source. 

• Always be wary of the clone sites of reputational organisations that sell bogus deals to unsuspecting victims. These sites are not authorised, but they may impersonate the FRN number of a reliable firm.

• One should always refuse the once-in-a-lifetime offer giving lucrative returns where they ask you to transfer a small amount of cryptocurrency to book your account. If the user clicks the link offered by such sites, they can be redirected to a bogus investment platform that shows off elaborated gains that do not exist. 

• Some fraudsters may ask the investors to open a digital wallet, pushing the person to install remote access software. They pose as traders who send money into digital wallets. Then, they ask to fill out a form to get a wallet. 

• They even offer brochures and advice to educate new investors, sometimes, offer a bonus to recruit new people. Of course, they always claim remote control over the user's account to help in the trade, but their purpose is to get all the user's funds. 

Such websites offer fake apps, even available on Google Play or Apple store, offering the same features. If you transfer money through crypto assets, it is irreversible, and the payment cannot be stopped once initiated. If you have already downloaded any such software on your device, check its details and report to the authorities if you suspect a crime.