Yahoo Finance Fraudsters target younger victims with fake crypto ads
Fraudsters are targeting younger investors as victims lose £8,585 on average to investment scams.
The average amount lost per victim was £8,585, down on the previous year £10,217, according to data from Lloyds Bank (LLOY.L).
Victims aged between 65 and 74 lost an average of £30,397, while 18- to 24-year-olds lost around £1,433 on average, and those aged 25 to 34 were duped out of £2,410.
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Scammers are increasingly targeting young investors as victims aged under 45 now account for 70% of reported investment scams.
The report said 18 to 24 years olds are most likely to fall victim to an investment scam, making up around a quarter (25%) of all cases. Many younger investors said they were lured by fake ads on social media promoting cryptocurrencies and meme stocks
However, the biggest increase in those reporting investment scams over the last 12 months came amongst 35- to 44-year-olds, with cases jumping by more than half (52%) compared to the previous year.
Those aged 25 to 34 saw cases rise by almost a quarter (24%) over the same period.
Liz Ziegler, retail fraud & financial crime director at Lloyds Bank, said: “Investing can be a great way to make money, but many deals are simply too good to be true, and it takes hard work and lots of research to find the right investment for your circumstances.
Read more: Crypto crime: Criminals amass $11bn via illegal sources
“While older investors remain at high risk – and often stand to suffer much heavier losses – there’s now a new generation of younger, more inexperienced investors on the scene for scammers to target. Predictably, our analysis suggests that social media platforms are the main breeding ground for these types of scams, with a mix of bogus ads, fake endorsements and cloned accounts key to fraudsters’ methods.”
The report showed that victims typically make three payments to fraudsters over the course of an investment scam.
Watch: How to avoid falling victim to scams
