Des Plaines man loses $32,000 in crypto scam: police
A Des Plaines man was taken for approximately $32,000 in a cryptocurrency scam, police said Friday.
The 30-year-old victim reported he was contacted in late June by a stranger on the WhatsApp communication service and advised to invest in cryptocurrency, Des Plaines police said in a news release.
The stranger claimed to have “years of experience” in cryptocurrency and stock investments, Des Plaines police officer Katie Kozlowski said.
“The victim felt they were reliable,” Kozlowski said.
Over the next two weeks, the man sent money to be invested but has not received any further communication or information about the money, police said.
People need to be cautious when contacted by strangers over social media, communication apps, text messages or the phone, Kozlowski said.
“You should not provide personal or financial information to anyone you do not know, and never provide payment or investment funds based solely off this kind of communication,” she said.
The FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center receives more than 758,000 complaints about internet crimes each year. Losses totaled a record $16.6 billion in 2024, according to a report issued this spring.
Nearly 150,000 complaints concerned cryptocurrency fraud, the report indicated. Cryptocurrency scams resulted in more than $9 billion in losses.
Of those cases, more than 41,000 involved cryptocurrency investment scams that resulted in nearly $6 billion in losses.
Illinois ranked sixth among U.S. states with 4,319 complaints about cryptocurrency fraud in 2024, the report indicated. Illinois ranked fifth among U.S. states for total losses from cryptocurrency crime in 2024, with $272.6 million.
The report can be found at ic3.gov.
Cryptocurrency crime losses by state (2024)
1. California: $1,393,628,996
2. Texas: $738,583,341
3. Florida: $584,746,970
4. New York: $375,087,857
5. Illinois: $272,633,678
Source: FBI