By Alicia Maher
A report by a consumer group (Which?) Has claimed that Britons between the age of 20 and 39 are at a higher risk of being scammed through various crypto-related Ponzi schemes. The group remarked that 38% of the nearly 449,000 complaints with the UK’s national reporting center for fraud and cyber-crime (action fraud) were within this demographic between October 2020 and November 2021.
A 33% Rise In Crypto-Related Scams
Besides crypto scams, criminals use other fraud methods to scam their victims, such as online shopping scams, rent fraud, and pyramid schemes. The data also revealed a 33% rise in crypto-related scams from the period mentioned above, with about 9,500 cases (equivalent to nearly $271m) reported to action fraud in the last 12 months
One of Which? ‘s top-level executive members, Jenny Ross, opined that “criminals don’t target specific age groups, they target everyone. Hence, no one is immune to their criminal acts; it is only sad that young Britons have the highest percentage of those losing huge amounts of money to these fraudsters.” The report claims that phishing emails, fake but enticing social media, and search engine ads are the most common ways these criminals lure their victims.
UK’s Advertisers’ Regulator Censors Crypto Ads
Following the frequency of Floki Inu ads in various UK media, UK’s advertising regulator (ASA) has issued new warnings regarding crypto ads. The agency stated that crypto firms need to enlighten their audience about the risks associated with digital currencies in ads, which involves stating that the UK government has yet to regulate operations in the crypto space. Also, the ads must include a floating message saying, “crypto investments are volatile and can result in huge losses if care isn’t taken.”
In addition, the ads must hint that potential investors should perform due diligence before investing in cryptos. Moreover, no crypto ad must use FOMO or any other sense of urgency to invest in their crypto project. Hence, anyone not doing so would have its ads restricted.
It further announced a ban on all Floki Inu ads. Also, ASA sent new warnings to 55 crypto ad firms asking them to modify their current ads to conform with the agency’s updated policy or risk their ads being banned like that of Floki Inu.
ASA And The FCA Partner To Combat Crypto Crimes
The latest data from the UK’s finance ministry states that nearly 2.35m Britons now own cryptocurrencies. Unfortunately, most of these holders lack adequate knowledge of how crypto works, which is a big concern for the regulatory agencies. Hence, the FCA has announced that it would work hand-in-hand with ASA to eradicate fake crypto ads. ASA would report any crypto ads that fail to adhere to the new rules to the FCA.
ASA has set May 2 as the deadline for advertisers to comply with the updated ad policies. Like the UK, Ireland’s apex bank has also issued an official warning for its residents regarding the risks associated with crypto investments.