NASAA [North American Securities Administrators Association] has once again published their annual report on top investor reports for they year.
NASAA is the association that advocates on behalf of all state and provincial financial regulators. The list of threats was developed by surveying state and provincial securities regulators in the United States and Canada.
For 2025, scams that involve digital assets/crypto, social media apps, and marketing tactics are at the top of the list. Exploiting the power of AI is also a growing challenge.
Platforms frequently utilized to woo the unsuspecting include:
- Facebook and X (31.7%)
- Telegram and WhatsApp (31.3%).
- YouTube and Vimeo (14.1%)
- TikTok and Instagram Reels (19.0%)
NASAA did not provide a more concise breakdown of social media usage by bad actors.
To quote the report:
Digital assets and crypto
Schemes using digital platforms are effective because scammers can use online communications to quickly and efficiently reach many potential victims. Although their promotions often use slick professional imagery and professional videos to tout lucrative financial instruments, the sellers are often not registered or licensed by state regulators to deal in securities.
Although legitimate firms sell products that may act as a hedge against inflation or that are not correlated with the stock markets, bad actors often claim to provide safety by removing all economic risk from their investments. Investors should remember that all investments bear risk.
Social Media and the Internet
Social networking through the internet allows people to connect to one another more quickly and easily than ever before. Investment promoters increasingly are logging on to find investors … and their money. Social media has become more saturated with financial content than ever before, leading to the rise of the financial influencer or “finfluencer.”
Romance Cons
Many of these schemes are affinity frauds that are also heavily tied to emotion. Perpetrators of pig-butchering schemes contact victims – oftentimes seemingly at random – and develop relationships before soliciting greater and greater investments. After draining the victim’s bank accounts, the promoter simply disappears with the money. The name comes from the practice of fattening a pig before slaughter, and many modern pig-butchering schemes are associated with digital asset frauds.