13 Investigates digs into the investment scam that has cost Americans billions of dollars that they're likely not to see again.Houstonians have lost anywhere from $10,000 to $1 million per person in investment scams, oftentimes involving hard-to-recover cryptocurrency.
Victims reported losing $3.31 billion in investment scams across the U.S. last year, which was up 127% from 2021, when fraud complaints totaled $1.45 billion, according to the FBI. About $2.57 billion was lost in cryptocurrency investment scams alone last year, up 183% from 2021. Quintanilla said scammers will recruit victims through several methods, for example, making personal connections on dating websites or through text messages and then drain those victims of all their finances.
"They're able to identify what vulnerabilities that person has, whether it's a need for a romantic partner, whether it's a lost loved one, whether it is a need to put their kids through college or a financial instability," Quintanilla said.
"Anyone can be a target because they are so sophisticated," Christina Garza, a public affairs officer at the FBI's Houston office, said. "The criminals behind these schemes are very sophisticated. This is what they do. They dedicate themselves to making you fall for it, so whatever it's going to take on their end to make it as legit looking, as sophisticated looking, they're going to invest that time.
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