The criminal activity surrounding cryptocurrency is a growing concern to law enforcement. The FBI has formed a new specialized team — the Virtual Asset Exploitation Unit — dedicated to cryptocurrency crimes. The Securities and Exchange Commission announced it’s nearly doubling the number of staffers in its unit responsible for protecting investors in crypto markets.

How to avoid ‘rug pulls,’ the latest cryptocurrency scam

Investors by the thousands are being duped into investing in cryptocurrency-related fraud schemes. The scams range from bogus cryptocurrencies to people who have lost money believing they would profit from crypto mining ventures.

“New financial frontiers can also generate fresh opportunities for old-fashioned fraud,” said Damian Williams, U. S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, after announcing charges against a New York man accused of misrepresenting to investors that he had purchased specialized cryptocurrency-mining computers.

I’m a student of scams. I’ve written about them in my column and uncovered one illegal scheme that led state authorities to shut it down.

I frequently read criminal complaints looking for the answer to what we natural-born skeptics wonder: How do con artists get people to believe their scams?

Even after I’ve exposed a fraud, victims blamed me for outing the con.

It’s not enough to say to potential victims, “If it’s too good…