He lost $340,000 to a crypto scam. Such cases are on the rise
Naum Lantsman was sure his cryptocurrency investments were making money. Every time he'd log on to the trading platform he was using, it looked like he was reaping windfall profits. But Lantsman, in fact, was one of a growing number of people who've fallen victim to cryptocurrency scams.
"I heard, and I read, but somehow I thought that I am not going to be one of them," he said.
Lantsman, 74, turned to cryptocurrency investments after the pandemic upended his life. He runs a business selling equipment and supplies to restaurants in the Los Angeles area. But many of them shut their doors when lockdown orders went into effect.
"I lost a lot of clients because a lot of them, restaurant and bars, they closed," Lantsman said.
At the same time, his retirement savings, which he managed himself, took a hit as the pandemic gyrated stock markets.
One day he was scrolling on Instagram and stumbled upon a post from a company called SpireBit. Its website says it is an "international financial broker" based in London, and helps people invest in cryptocurrencies.
Lantsman decided to try it.
An online friend and a false sign of success
After Lantsman opened an account, a company representative who called himself Pavel reached out on the messaging app Telegram. He
