For the past 5 months alone Instagram users have lost 3 million pounds in a get-instantly-rich scam, reports Action Fraud, the British national fraud reporting service.
Action Fraud has recorded 356 scam cases since October, where victims have lost on average 8900 pounds. The agency notes that people in their 20s and 30s are particularly at risk.
Scammers are advertising their schemes on Instagram, promising high and easy returns within 24 hours after an initial investment of 600 pounds.
And after the payment is made via a bank transfer, scammers start sending their victims screenshots showing amazing “profits”, which however disappear the moment a withdraw request is made.
And once again the perpetrators were linked to unregulated, offshore companies running scam forex and crypto brokers. The FCA statistics shows that scams with forex, cryoto currencies, stocks and bonds amount to 85% of all frauds in the UK in 2018.