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Got an offer to "make lots of money"? It's a scam.

Maybe you’ve heard about someone who invested $1,000 in crypto and is now a millionaire. Or maybe you’re regretting not taking that chance to make some extra income. So, when someone offers you a can’t-miss investment opportunity, your first reaction might be to jump on it. But how do you tell the difference between a legitimate investment — and a scam?

Investment scams are huge right now — with 2022 reported losses of $3.8 billion dollars — which is more than people lost to any other scam, and more than double the loss reported in 2021. (Thanks, crypto.) Investment scams often create the impression that you can "make lots of money" with "little to no risk." They often start on social media, online dating apps, or from an unexpected text, email, or call. 

To steer clear of investment scams, here are some things to know.

Don’t accept any unsolicited offers. If you get an out-of-the-blue call, text, or e-mail about “an amazing investment opportunity,” it’s a scam. Hang up. Delete. Walk away. Especially if they want you to take money out of your 401(k) to invest.

Reject the high-pressure pitch. Scammers try to plant an image in your head of what life will be like when you’re rich. Don’t believe it. They’ll say “this is a once-in-a-lifetime offer — and it will be gone tomorrow.” But legitimate investments let you take the time you need to investigate before spending any money.

Do your own research. Don’t make any investment until you’ve checked it out. Research the investment and the person offering it. Search online for the name of the company plus “review,” “complaint,” or “scam.”

Don’t believe promises that you’ll make money or earn guaranteed returns. No one can guarantee you’ll make lots of money with little to no risk — anyone who does is a scammer.

Check out #FTCTopFrauds to see more about top scams. Spotted a scam? Report it at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.

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The purpose of this blog and its comments section is to inform readers about Federal Trade Commission activity, and share information to help them avoid, report, and recover from fraud, scams, and bad business practices. Your thoughts, ideas, and concerns are welcome, and we encourage comments. But keep in mind, this is a moderated blog. We review all comments before they are posted, and we won’t post comments that don’t comply with our commenting policy. We expect commenters to treat each other and the blog writers with respect.

  • We won’t post off-topic comments, repeated identical comments, or comments that include sales pitches or promotions.
  • We won’t post comments that include vulgar messages, personal attacks by name, or offensive terms that target specific people or groups.
  • We won’t post threats, defamatory statements, or suggestions or encouragement of illegal activity.
  • We won’t post comments that include personal information, like Social Security numbers, account numbers, home addresses, and email addresses. To file a detailed report about a scam, go to ReportFraud.ftc.gov.

We don't edit comments to remove objectionable content, so please ensure that your comment contains none of the above. The comments posted on this blog become part of the public domain. To protect your privacy and the privacy of other people, please do not include personal information. Opinions in comments that appear in this blog belong to the individuals who expressed them. They do not belong to or represent views of the Federal Trade Commission.

Jon Lunn
April 19, 2023

if you ever invest in any crypto make sure o avoid an exchange called Confire. It's a scam

ANTHONY
April 19, 2023

Can you tell me if the passive income is all that scammers or any legitimate passive income

Antor Dutta Papon
April 24, 2023

I am happy.

M Lehman
April 18, 2023

I get so many fraudulent emails daily. But when I try to report them, they want me to answer so many questions. I have not clicked on anything. I did not lose any money, there must just be a place where I can just forward them to you, right?

RICHARD Aurili
April 19, 2023

In reply to by M Lehman

yes, I agree completely, GIVE US A SIMPLIFIED METHOD OF REPORTING attempted FRAUD. Perhaps a method to simply forward email to you which is OBVIOUSLY fraudulent. I am inundated with this type of phishing emails. Thank You.

Jesus Hernandez Jr
April 18, 2023

Thanks for this awesome informative!!

Roger Cordi
April 20, 2023

I got caught up in this scam. It was an unexpected call. One thing led to another. They operate fake websites that look like the real one but with a different web address. First they convince you to wire transfer money to Crypto.com which is legit and then have you transfer it to the fake website. The two websites I know of are Tokenlon & P2PB2B but they are scam website addresses. Do not use the website address someone gives you. Look up the real one and compare. You realize that the one they give you is fake.

Unknown
April 24, 2023

Thanks for this!

Karen
April 24, 2023

I been dating a guy who wants to put money in my account. I gave him my bank account number so he could. As of now he has done nothing. What if he takes all my money out of my account what can I do

Gerry Lester
April 27, 2023

In reply to by Karen

My tenants deposit their rent into my bank account directly etc or counter deposit. BUT....deposit ability does not create withdrawal rights. Nevertheless, dump this boyfriend.

Gina
April 24, 2023

There absolutely no way they could charge me for anything. I have no credit cards, all calls are free no matter where I call. And lastly the only card I use, is a prepaid one. I only fill it when I want to buy something.

LARRY
May 08, 2023

Stay away from the quantum trading platform, it is a scam. I got beat for 50,000 dollars.
I thought I was rich until I tried to withdraw money. It is all a scam so don't ever go near a crypto platform or any other platform until you do alot of research and I mean a lot of research . Almost all of them are scams.

Aryia Elizabet…
May 23, 2023

Needed Help(REAL FACE TO FACE FACTUAL HELP/RESOLVING THE PROBLEM SO I CAN MOVE FOWARD AND ON WITH MY LIFE KINDA HELP) FOR YEARSSSS!!