Thirty-one Marin County residents lost a total of $33 million in online investment scams last year, according to a new FBI report on internet crimes.In the FBI’s San Francisco territory — which includes much of the Bay Area, the North Coast, Santa Cruz County, Monterey County and San Benito County — victims reported nearly $400 million in losses to online investment scams last year.
After payment, the scammer would either fail to invest the victim’s money as promised, or would only invest a small part of the payment while pocketing the rest of the money. “Everybody has heard the word ‘cryptocurrency,’ and it’s a buzzword that 90-year-old senior citizens can throw around comfortably,” he said. “But when you start getting into the nitty-gritty of specific cryptocurrency, their backing in the block chain, projected rates of return in particular areas under certain conditions — nobody knows that. It’s just a black box that magically makes money.