There were 287 victims of investment fraud in Connecticut in 2023 who lost a total of $30.5 million, according to a recent analysis by Carlson Law, a Florida-based law firm that represents investors in high-stakes financial disputes.
Americans are increasingly being lured into cryptocurrency scams, often involving AI-generated videos that use impersonations of celebrity business leaders such as Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos to hawk fake investment advice.
The FBI says investment fraud is the No. 1 costliest type of fraud in the United States. In 2023, more than 85% of the money lost to investment fraud involved cryptocurrency schemes.
Scammers also use dating apps to trick supposed love interests into investing in fraudulent cryptocurrency schemes – a practice known as “pig butchering,” an analogy for gaining a victim’s trust by “fattening them up” before stealing their money.
Other types of investment fraud include advance-fee scams, Ponzi or pyramid schemes, market manipulation and real estate investing scams.
In Connecticut, there was a 44% increase in the total amount of money lost from investment scams between 2022 and 2023, according to Carlson Law’s analysis. The average loss per victim was $106,398.
The analysis used data from the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center.
Nationally, a record $4.57 billion was lost to investment fraud in 2023, up from $3.3 billion in 2022, the analysis found.
“Elder millennials,” people between the ages of 40 and 49, were the most likely age demographic to be scammed, with a rate of 16.2 victims per 100,000 people.
Millennials, ages 30 to 39, were slightly less likely to be victims, with a rate of 14.6 per 100,000.
The investment scam rate for Generation X (ages 50 to 59) was 13.5 per 100,000. For Baby Boomers (60+), it was 8.1 per 100,000.
Tech-savvy Generation Z, which includes young people ages 20 to 29, had a lower rate of 7.6 per 100,000.
Connecticut’s 2023 investment scam rate was 7.9 victims per 100,000, ranking No. 21. The Nutmeg State’s average loss per victim was just over $100,000, which ranked No. 33 nationally.
California, whose residents collectively lost nearly $1 billion to investment scams in 2023, was ranked the worst state.
The states with the greatest increases in investment scams between 2022 and 2023 were: North Dakota, New Mexico, Montana, Vermont and South Carolina.
Maine had the lowest rate of investment fraud, with just 3.5 victims per 100,000.
