Cryptocurrency scams rose 1,000 percent in the past year and cost consumers at least $80 million, FTC says

Consumers have reported losing more than $80 million to cryptocurrency investment scams, the data shows. The FTC said it received nearly 7,000 scam reports in the last quarter of 2020 and the first quarter of 2021, 12 times the number reported over the same period a year earlier. The median amount consumers lost in the scams was $1,900. That is nearly 1,000 percent more in reported losses compared to the same period a year earlier, the agency said.