The Better Business Bureau is warning people to be wary of cryptocurrency scams.
The Better Business Bureau of Chicago said cryptocurrency scams have tripled in the past three years, largely because many people involved in crypto don’t completely understand the investment and digital payment system.
"Cryptocurrency scams have now climbed from #7 to #2 on our list of riskiest scams so there’s a lot of people that are losing money to these scams and a lot of it is because sometimes these celebrities are hyping this," said Better Business Bureau president Steve Bernas.
The Better Business Bureau said to avoid cryptocurrency scams, guard your digital wallet, don’t pay for products with crypto and watch out for fake recovery companies claiming they can recover stolen money for a fee in cryptocurrency.
The Better Business Bureau calls cryptocurrency the hot new trend of investing and payments, but Bernas said most consumers don’t quite understand crypto fully.
"We’ve seen consumers lose, on an average, about a thousand dollars but it can be upward to $800,000, as well," he said.
Bernas warned investors to understand before they get involved in cryptocurrency.
"Until you understand it better, don’t get involved in it and, if somebody asks you to pay by it, and it’s usually within 30 minutes and that’s usually the tip-off to the rip-off. Most organizations yet do not accept a payment by crypto currency," he said.
A Better Business Bureau study says that research indicates most people do not make a report when they’re scammed so actual cryptocurrency losses could be higher than estimated.