Scams have been around for centuries, but with the rise of the internet, it’s become easier for all the scum to target unsuspecting people than ever before.

A post on the r/TrueOffMyChest subreddit by u/Comfortable_Soft7418 serves as a warning of the dangers lurking just one click away. The story describes his girlfriend losing $14.5k to a cryptocurrency scheme after she fell for a fake giveaway on Twitter.

It’s a reminder to be cautious and do your research before making financial decisions, especially online.

This guy witnessed his girlfriend lose $14.5k to a cryptocurrency scam, including his and her parents’ savings

Image credits: Anna Tarazevich (not the actual photo)

Because of that, he feels like the time has come to break up with her

Image credits: Tima Miroshnichenko (not the actual photo)

Image credits: Andrew Neel (not the actual photo)

Image credits: Comfortable_Soft7418

Image credits: Anete Lusina (not the actual photo)

Cyber scams are on the rise, and social media is their crucial source

American consumers reported losing more than $5.8 billion to fraud in 2021, up from $3.4 billion in 2020 (an increase of more than 70%), the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) said.

Almost 2.8 million consumers filed a fraud report to the agency that year — the highest number since 2001, according to the FTC. About 25% of those scams led to a financial loss, with the typical person losing $500.

Group-IB, one of the global leaders in cybersecurity, claims that 57% of all financially motivated cybercrime are scams. The industry is becoming more structured and involves more parties divided into hierarchical groups.

“The number of such groups jumped to a record high of 390, which is 3.5 times more than last year, when the maximum number of active groups was close to 110,” Group-IB wrote in its digital risk report. “Due to SaaS (Scam-as-a-Service), in 2021 the number of cyber criminals in one scam gang increased 10 times compared to 2020 and now reaches 100.”

Traffic has become the circulatory system of scam projects. Group-IB emphasized that the number of websites used for purchasing and providing “gray” and illegal traffic and that lure victims into fraudulent schemes has increased by 1.5 times.

“Scammers are now attracting specific groups of victims to increase conversion rates. Social media are more often becoming the first point of contact between scammers and their potential victims.”

Image credits: Andrea Piacquadio (not the actual photo)

However, young people, like the girl described in the post, are falling prey to this more often than one thinks

Contrary to popular belief, being tech-savvy isn’t enough to protect you from online scams.

The number of individuals ages 20 or younger — members of Generation Z who have grown up on smartphones and the internet — reporting they are victims of cyber-fraud has surged 156% during 2017-2020, according to a study from Social Catfish, an online identity-verification service.

That compares to 112% growth during the same time among people age 60 or older, the group with the next-fastest scam growth.

“It is alarming,” said David McClellan, president of Social Catfish. “The generation we think of as being the most savvy with the internet … is where the numbers are growing the fastest when it comes to scams.”

“This age group is very comfortable being online and being very public about their lives,” McClellan added. “So that makes them very trusting when they’re on the internet.”

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