Nick Van Tassell got tangled up in a cryptocurrency investing scheme that lasted nearly a year.'It's very foolish of me,' he said. “It's difficult.' Van Tassell had been a client of TD Ameritrade, which was acquired by Charles Schwab.It was around that time that Van Tassell received a message from two people claiming to be Charles Schwab employees on the messaging platform WhatsApp.
'It's hard to really say how many people are scammed because there is this embarrassment factor,” he said.The red flags of investment scams Barnett said scammers may pressure you to invest immediately or promise annual returns of 20% or higher.'Those kinds of returns are few and far between,” he said, “and for somebody to promise that rate of return, that is just not realistic.'“Investments are highly regulated. Advisers need a ton of licenses, a ton of education.