Bitcoin has been as high as $19,000 in 2020 but also as low as $6,500 – it can be extremely volatile as there are no real world assets to give it a solid value.

For those who invest in Bitcoin, it’s an unpredictable roller coaster with wild swings up and down. This can make people very rich or they can lose almost everything. Not for the faint hearted and not for anyone who cannot afford to take a big loss.

There are endless Bitcoin investment plans offered by a myriad of organisations.

Some are genuine but generally they don’t care if you win or lose on Bitcoin – they always win whether the price goes up or down.

The volatility of the currency and the occasional stories of people making fortines with Bitcoin encourage scammers to create their scam offerings where you always lose and they always win, unless they get caught by the authorities.

 Bitcoin Scams

Cryptocurrency scams are now a popular way for scammers to trick people into sending money. And they pop up in many ways. Most crypto scams can appear as emails trying to blackmail someone, online chain referral schemes, or bogus investment and business opportunities.

If you’re trying to pay for something online and the retailer wants you to pay in Bitcoin, maybe they are just offering options, nut generally this means there is a scam in progress and you will be the victim if you send that money as it will not be recoverable.

Latest Bitcoin Scam

Periodically, highly organised scammers produce floods of emails, adverts, fake newspaper articles and more in a coordinated attempt to lure people into their scam offering of Bitcoins.

Often these use fake celebrity endorsements such as claiming Richard Branson is selling everything to invest in Bitcoin. Recent names used include Alan Sugar and Daniel Radcliffe. The celebrities have nothing to do with this and try to stop their names being used to con people, but the scammers typically shut up shop and move on before being caught.

Headlines such as

“SPECIAL REPORT: Daniel Radcliffe’s Latest Investment Has The Government And Big Banks Terrified.”

“United Kingdom citizens are already raking in millions of Pounds from home using this “wealth loophole” – but is it legitimate?”

These such messages are always part of a coordinated scam.

If you do consider investing in Bitcoin or other cyber currencies, never respond to such emails, adverts or newspaper articles – do your own research on how to invest and take professional advice if possible.