In new bitcoin bull market, it’s time to beware of the same old crypto scams

Consumers beware: With bitcoin trading

solidly over $90,000 this month and closing in on the $100,000 level, cybercriminals will be circling the wagons.

“This is going to create a lot of FOMO and a lot of urgency around investing in bitcoin and paying with bitcoin,” said Eva Velasquez, president and chief executive of the Identity Theft Resource Center. Scammers “love, love, love to leverage external events, create confusion, create that sense of urgency and steal your hard-earned money.”

The issue is compounded by the fact that legitimate strategies to make money with bitcoin are being discussed publicly by reputable sources. That, coupled with the technological advances of AI, makes scams seem more real, even for more sophisticated investors, industry professionals said.

The stakes are particularly high given that the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Internet Crime Complaint Center received more than 69,000 complaints last year related to cryptocurrency fraud, with estimated losses topping more than $5.6 billion. The losses associated with these complaints accounted for nearly half of the total fraud losses reported.

With this in mind, here’s how to recognize and avoid the latest crypto scams:

‘Elon Musk is not going to double your money’

Prevalent scams today include fake bonuses in exchange for an initial investment, bogus coin promotions, phishing emails or texts that appear to come from reputable crypto companies or exchanges, Ponzi and pyramid schemes, or “Pig butchering” scams that involve fraudsters building trust over time, often posing as friends or romantic partners, before convincing victims to invest in fake crypto platforms.