A new survey by the cybersecurity firm, Kaspersky, shows that one in three Americans has lost an average of $97,583 worth of crypto. 

The survey was carried out on 2,000 American adults from October 20 to 24, 2022, and showed that Gen Z members were the most exploited. 

Although 8% stated that no significant harm was done after falling victim to cryptocurrency scams, 24% said they lost access to their cryptocurrency accounts. 19% of respondents claimed they were victims of identity theft, and 27% had their payment details and money stolen. 

When participants were asked how they stored their seed phrases and private keys, 29% answered they wrote them down on paper. A total of 62% employed the use of their PCs or phones to store their private keys. 

While the average value of cryptocurrency scams in the survey was $97,583, 15% of respondents lost crypto assets worth between $100,001 and $1,000,000.

This result was quite surprising as Gen-Z is known to be a tech-oriented generation. Almost half (47%) of the survey’s participants between 18 and 24 years of age were victims of crypto fraud. Distinctively, only 8% of older respondents over 55 were scammed by crypto fraudsters.

Crypto scams are very common in America.

Security Tips For Crypto Investors

Cryptocurrency investors should pay extra attention to the websites they link their crypto wallets to. Some phishing sites can clear out assets when users connect their wallets. Cryptocurrency users should also verify the authenticity of any links shared on social media platforms. 

Some individuals have fallen prey to crypto fraudsters who lured them with fake airdrops, giveaways, free mints, etc. Also, it is recommended that crypto users keep their private keys on paper rather than on gadgets that often have access to the internet.

Marc Rivero is a Senior Security Researcher at Kaspersky’s Global Research and Analysis Team. The security expert shared: 

“Users should be very careful where they invest their money, keeping a close eye out for phishing scams and fake websites. They should employ any extra security measures that are available to them, such as multi-factor authentication, and should use strong, unique passwords across all accounts. Consumer security solutions, like Kaspersky Premium, offer further protection against crypto scams and other threats.”