Facebook And Instagram Are “Creating Breeding Ground” For Crypto Scams, According To US Senators

The Washington Post reported on September 9 that US senators have requested information from Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg regarding the company procedures for dealing with the increasing number of cryptocurrency frauds on Facebook and Instagram.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC), in a recent investigation, found that crypto frauds had considerably expanded across social media sites controlled by Meta. This is why the lawmakers made the call.

According to a survey released by the FTC in June, 50% of victims of cryptocurrency scams since 2021 have said they were defrauded on social media. Facebook and WhatsApp were mentioned 26% and 9% of the time, respectively, while Meta’s Instagram was used in 32% of the reported scams.

Senator Robert Menendez told The Washington Post:

“Based on recent reports of scams on other media platforms and apps, we are concerned that Meta provides a breeding ground for cryptocurrency fraud that causes significant harm to consumers.”

The MPs have requested a thorough report from Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg on the company’s efforts to combat cryptocurrency fraud and the procedures it takes to help victims of theft. By October 24, 2022, Zuckerberg is anticipated to answer to the request.

Crypto scams on Facebook

Crypto has become a common means of payment for users on social media. Unfortunately, bad actors have scammed unsuspecting users of hundreds of millions of dollars.

According to the FTC report, over 95,000 users lost about $770 million to social media-engineered crypto scams. Over 70% of the reported scams were categorized as either investment, romance, or online shopping scams.

A 2021 study by BBC revealed that about 10,500 victims lost more than $18 million to give away scams in the first three months of 2021. Most of the giveaway scams are perpetrated by impersonating influential personalities like Elon Musk.

A victim reportedly lost over $550,000 in February 2021 after sending 10 BTC to an Elon Musk giveaway scam.

Observing the rising trend of crypto scams on social media platforms, FatManTerra recently pulled a fake investment prank that saw unsuspecting users sending him over $100,000.

FatManTerra used the incident to educate the community against looking for a free launch in crypto and refunded those who were hoodwinked by it.

DISCLAIMER: The Information on this website is provided as general market commentary and does not constitute investment advice. We encourage you to do your own research before investing.

Join CoinCu Telegram to keep track of news: https://t.me/coincunews

Follow CoinCu Youtube Channel | Follow CoinCu Facebook page

Annie

CoinCu News