A CoinFlip bitcoin ATM is sandwiched between a cash ATM and a live bait kiosk at a gas station in Woodbury on Tuesday, March 28, 2023. Several factors make crypto attractive to scammers: There’s no bank or other centralized authority to flag suspicious transactions and attempt to stop fraud before it happens; crypto transfers can’t be reversed, and most people are still unfamiliar with how crypto works, according to the Federal Trade Commission. (John Autey / Pioneer Press)
More than 46,000 people in the U.S. reported losing more than $1.3 billion in cryptocurrency to scams from the start of 2021 through June 2022, according to a report by the Federal Trade Commission.
Here are some tips to avoid becoming one of them:
Block unrecognized callers and texters.
Don’t give your personal or financial information in response to a request that you didn’t expect. Honest organizations won’t call, email or text to ask for your personal information, like your Social Security, bank account or credit card numbers.
If you get an email or text message from a company you do business with and you think it’s real, it’s still best not to click on any links. Instead, contact them using a website you know is trustworthy. Or look up their phone number. Don’t call a number they gave you or the number from your caller ID.
Resist the pressure to act immediately. Honest businesses will give you time to make a decision. Anyone who pressures you to pay or give them your personal information is a scammer.
RELATED: Scammers now sending victims to cryptocurrency ATMs
Know how scammers tell you to pay. Never pay someone who insists you pay with cryptocurrency, a wire transfer service like Western Union or MoneyGram, or a gift card. And never deposit a check and send money back to someone.
Stop and talk to someone you trust. Before you do anything else, tell someone — a friend, a family member, a neighbor — what happened. Talking about it could help you realize it’s a scam.
Source: Federal Trade Commission
If you’ve been scammed
If you have been contacted by a scammer or believe you have fallen victim to a scam, file a report with:
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