An Echo Press Editorial: Don't fall in love with a scam - Alexandria Echo Press

Most people fall into scammers like foreigners who hide in basements and deposits from some foreign countries, sending a flood of E -mail or telephone calls, which take the greed of their targets.

But this is not always the case.

Scammers can get much more personal.

According to the New Better Business Business report, romantic or friendship scams have climbed to the most risky scam for the first time since the office began to publish the report.

Investment scams, including those involving cryptocurrency, remained the most risky type of scam in 2024, reported the office.

Both types of scams involve financial care, in which the scam builds a relationship with the victim before perpetuating the deception.

Financial care scams are often complex and devastating for victims, according to Melissa Lanning, executive director of the BBB Institute for Marketplace Trust, which produced the risk report of the 2024 BBB scam.

Lanning said he may take weeks or months for scams to create confidence with their targets. Once this happens, the scam encourages the person to try to invest, often in cryptocurrency. It always begins small as confidence is built over time. While the investment “grows”, the scam encourages them to invest more money. But then the person realizes too late, once he has invested a significant amount, that the platform is false and cannot receive their money back, Lanning said in a press release.

Over 80 percent of the persons who were targeted by investment scams/cryptocurrency, the most risky no. 1, reported that they lost money for BBB SCAM TRACKER. It also had the second largest median loss in dollars at $ 5,000.

Investment scaters take over many forms, including pressure for purchasing, trade or storage of digital assets (cryptocurrency) with fraudulent exchanges.

The cheating reports for employment remained the type of scam no. 2 in 2024, representing about 14% of all reported scams. Employment scams had an average dollars of $ 1,500.

Romantic/friendship scams had the greatest median loss in dollars of all types of scam – $ 6,099.

Online (shopping) procurement scams have dropped on the list this year, landing on the 4th place risky. This year, 30.3% of scams transmitted to BBB SCAM TRACKER were online buyers, and 87.5% reported that they lost money, according to the office.

“The scammers spend more time building relationships with their targets, and the result is significant losses,” Lanning said. “If someone you have met online offers you to help you invest your money, it’s a huge red flag and probably a scam.”

Key Report Results include:

In general, the median dollar loss increased by 30% of 2023 to 2024. Susceptibility generally reported (the percentage of reports with a monetary loss) decreased by 14.6%.
People aged 65 and older reported the highest median loss in dollars of all age groups ($ 160), followed by 18-24 ($ 150).
The employment scams were no. 1 May risky for ages between 18 and 34. According to the survey research, the flexibility to work at home was the top motivational factor for involving the scam.
People have reported that they are more likely to lose money when engaging through social networks. According to survey research, almost 50% of scams through social networks started when the person responded to an advertisement or post on social networks. About 15% started when the scam sent them a direct message.
Credit cards remained the most reported payment method with a monetary loss, followed by the debit of the bank account and the online payment system (digital payment application). The reports of people paying scammers with cryptocurrency increased from 3.0% in 2023 to 4.8% in 2024.
According to the office survey research, 29.6% said that their mental health was affected by the incident of the deception. The top emotions that people felt behind the deception were anger (60.3%), loss of confidence (54.0%) and anxiety/stress/trauma (53.5%).
Those who hired themselves with the scam for more than a day had more chances to report the loss of money.

For several important aspects of the 2024 BBB Risk Risk Report, visit

BBBMARKETPLACTRUST.org/RISKREPORT

Go to bbb.org/scamtracker to report a scam, find out more about other risky scams on bbb.org/scamtips. The victims of deception can obtain resources and tips at

Bbb.org/scamsurvivalkit