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PITTSBURGH (KDKA) \u2014 A Greensburg woman feels duped after falling for a social media offer that she\u2019s now calling \u201ctoo good to be true.\u201d<\/p>\n
It all started when a friend reached out to her on Instagram and asked her to invest in cryptocurrency.<\/p>\n
READ MORE: <\/strong>Pennsylvania House Committee To Vote On Bill To Ban Transgender Women From Female Sports<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cYou don\u2019t have to put a lot into it, and you get this obscene return, which is what I knew wasn\u2019t real, but I wanted it to be real. I wanted it to be real so bad,\u201d Natasha Reyna said.<\/p>\n Reyna believes it could happen to anyone and said she saw dollar signs when a message popped up on Instagram.<\/p>\n \u201cI was like $200, and that is a lot of money,\u201d said Reyna. \u201cBut at the same time, like a little part of my brain was like, oh, my God, what if this is legit?\u201d<\/p>\n Reyna said the friend asked her to buy $200 worth of cryptocurrency using Cash App, saying she\u2019d see a huge return on her money.<\/p>\n \u201cLike $4,700,\u201d said Reyna. \u201cI could pay my bills, my car off.\u201d<\/p>\n The Better Business Bureau said it\u2019s a scam that\u2019s tripled in popularity. Cybercriminals are so advanced that they now hack into an unsuspecting person\u2019s account and target their friends.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was someone that she had met a handful of times but didn\u2019t have a lot of direct contact with,\u201d said Caitlin Driscoll with the Better Business Bureau. \u201cBut she was an attorney, so she trusted her, and it seemed a little bit more plausible as to being legitimate.\u201d<\/p>\n READ MORE: <\/strong>Around The Table: Mortgage Rate Trends<\/a><\/p>\n Reyna said the person even gave her a link to watch her $200 grow into more. But then came a red flag.<\/p>\n \u201cI was like, \u2018Ok, I want my money,\u2019\u201d she said. \u201cI was like, \u2018Now, gimme it. I want to withdraw this.\u2019 And they were like, \u2018No, you have to reinvest $1,500.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Reyna stopped there and called the BBB. But Driscoll said many people keep giving the scammers money. She\u2019s tracking 2,400 complaints totaling losses of $8 million.<\/p>\n \u201cCryptocurrency scams were identified as the second-riskiest scam last year, a significant increase from the seventh spot the year prior,\u201d said Driscoll.<\/p>\n Reyna feels lucky to only be out $200, but she won\u2019t invest again without doing her research.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s what makes people drawn to it because it\u2019s the unknown,\u201d said Reyna. \u201cIt could either like be really good or really bad, and I think if you\u2019re gonna do that you should really educate yourself on what exactly you\u2019re investing in.\u201d<\/p>\n The Better Business Bureau told KDKA that most victims lose about $1,200 in these cryptocurrency scams.<\/p>\n