2021 has been a great year for scammers who commit their outrages through social networks . According to a report prepared by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), a US federal agency for consumer protection, it maintains that the money swindled from social network users doubled last year.
If in 2020 social network users lost an approximate amount of 258 million dollars due to scams, in 2021 that amount rose to 770 million . In total, some 95,000 people lost their money due to scams and scams through social networks.
Most of these scams are carried out by the technique known as “scam” . This deception is what is hidden behind that advertising of highly discounted products, great discounts and offers that are irresistible . If a user clicks on these supposed bargains, clicks on the link they offer him and enters his personal data, the damage has already been done.
According to the data provided by the study, the money swindled by this “scam” technique has not stopped growing in the last four years. But never before has it grown so rapidly as between 2020 and 2021. In 2017, 42 million dollars were scammed in this way, the following year it was 78 and in 2019, 105. By 2020, a pandemic year of massive use of social networks , the figure doubled to the aforementioned 258 million dollars.
The report also details that many of these scams are linked to advertisements that offer juicy investments in cryptocurrencies. Another study, this one from the company Chainalysis, maintains that money laundering from illicit activities through cryptocurrencies has increased by up to 30% in 2021 compared to the previous year.
