The year 2021 recorded the highest number of crypto scams in the last five years. With the outbreak of Covid, people started looking for extra sources of earning and crypto investment became the preferred choice for many. While more investors, including big business tycoons, showed interest in crypto, investors became an easy target of scammers and fraudsters. Read here (rise in crypto scam links)
Even earlier, crypto investors have been easy targets. In 2014, Tokyo-based exchange MtGox collapsed after billions of dollars of Bitcoin went missing, while Coincheck was hacked in a $530 million heist in 2018.
Here are the top crypto scams that happened in 2021.
1. Squid Game Crypto Scam
Based on the popular Netflix series Squid Game, a new crypto coin named Squid was introduced in 2021. Within a week of its launch, it stirred interest among investors and rallied to a peak value of $2,861. But very soon, it dropped to $0 when the creators cashed out the tokens and there was no liquidity left for further trading. It is estimated that the scammers drew around $3.38 million.
2. Crypto Scams By Elon Musk Impersonators
A group of scammers impersonated Tesla CEO Elon Musk and run a scam over a period of six months, reported the Federal Trade Commission. The scammers promoted various schemes that could “multiply” the cryptocurrency that investors spent through them and stole at least $2 million.
3. Faze Saga/SaveTheKids
In June, an e-sports team FaZe Clan members Kay, Teeqo, Jarvis, and Nikan, along with YouTuber RiceGum started promoting a charity-based cryptocurrency called SaveTheKids. The scammers convinced people to invest in this new crypto and assured success as it had connections to the biggest Esports brand on the planet. They also assured that the profit earned will be used for some charity work for children.
After a few days, the token was officially launched and it was found that the initial…
