The Financial Conduct Authority(FCA) in the U.K. had taken a rough approach towards the crypto-related companies when it was discovered that people had lost almost £27 million to cryptocurrency and foreign-exchange scams.
The financial institution took a harsh step towards the crypto-related businesses as they decided to investigate 87 cases related to digital assets. This number has increased by 74% as compared to last year. However, the crypto industry considers this approach as good news for them as they believe that FCA is determined to help the cryptocurrency market act within the law.
Regulators said that people are more vulnerable to fraudulent “get-rich-quick schemes” and since crypto businesses don’t need physical assets or initial investment, it becomes easier to misuse them. Scammers use various ways to make the scams look more legit and try to fool people.
Fraudsters, on the other hand, use the old boiler room schemes where they promise high returns pushing people to invest more. Whenever the investors reach out to withdraw their investments, these fraudsters disappear with the funds, or they stop responding to the queries.