Britain: £339M in Loses to Investement Scams in 2019

£339m is the total amount of money lost to investment scams last year (2019) in Britain. These numbers seem even more dazzling when compared to last years reports of a total loss of £27 million for 2018.

Action Fraud cyber protection officer Max Bruce claims that he had recieved a total of 6427 reports of fraud in 2019. And remember, these are only the ones reported; who knows how many cyber crimes are left unregistered.

Max Bruce has officially warned the public against the sharp rise of crypto related scams, mainly because the general public lacks knowledge in this investment type, making many novice traders susceptible to fraudulent schemes. What's more concerning is, Mr. Bruce claims, that these same fraudsters are evolving, re-evaluating their phishing tactics, and utilizing the actuality of current events to lure users, and in so doing touching on more personal aspects of an individual's life.

“There is a level of detail in the scams which looks to build a relationship with the victim. Also within the mass email side of things, Her Majesty's government is always the most phished brand because pretty much everyone engages with it in some way”

The bulk of the crypto scams utilize social media pools to launch their fake “get-rich-now” schemes. Once a user is hooked into the fake promise of a new luxurious life, he or she will deposit a certain amount, being promised beforehand that the returns will be huge. Of course, with the market being as volatile as it is (with recent big changes at its forefront), and because these promises are completely based on pure cynic needs, the user will lose all invested funds as soo as he/she deposits.

Despite efforts from local governments, it seems that more and more people are being victimized, which begs the question: are the approaches taken effcient enough to reduce the numbers, or should there be a more out-of-the-box methodology applied?