The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) states that over $80 million has been lost to cryptocurrency investment scams, according to roughly 7,000 reports received since October 2020. This is a ten-fold increase compared to the previous 12 months. The most vulnerable group to this type of scam were consumers aged 20 to 49 who were five times more likely to lose money, with more than half of all investment scam losses they reported (roughly $35 million) being linked to cryptocurrency. “The numbers are especially striking for people in their 20s and 30s: this group reported losing far more money on investment scams than on any other type of fraud, and more than half of their reported investment scam losses were in cryptocurrency,” the FTC said in their statement. Cryptocurrency investment scams take many forms, with the FTC highlighting scammers using fake investment sites, get rich quick scams, impersonating a government authority or business, and even impersonating celebrities with giveaway scams. Elon Musk is likely the best example of a celebrity being used as cover to trick people into sending their cryptocurrency to scammers’ wallets.