<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">California’s financial regulator released a barrage of 16 crypto scam alerts between Dec. 27 and 28, warning consumers of potentially fraudulent crypto websites and brokers. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation rarely releases more than one warning at a time, but seems to have made an exception for crypto. Its previous crypto scam alert bombardment took place on Jun. 15, when 26 notices were pushed out. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">From romantic swindling schemes to advance fee scams, victims </span><a href="https://dfpi.ca.gov/2022/12/28/cryptocurrency-broker-simex-appears-to-be-engaged-in-fraud-against-california-consumers/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">totted up</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> to losses of up to $1.2 million, the regulator said. Many fell into the trap following friendly social media messages that built a relationship between the victim and the scammer.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Some of the sites attempted to dupe well-known entities, with names such as “eth-Wintermute.net,” “UniSwap LLC” and “RB Hood.”</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“The DFPI urges consumers to exercise extreme caution before responding to any solicitation offering investment or financial services,” the regulator wrote.</span></p><br /><span class="copyright"><p>© 2023 The Block Crypto, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.</p> </span>