According to data from the United Kingdom’s police unit Action Fraud, cryptocurrency fraud in the United Kingdom increased by 32% in a year to 226 million pounds ($273 million), according to the Financial Times on Monday. The United Kingdom is currently in a recession, and the cost of living has risen, making some people vulnerable to con artists. “Whenever times are tough,” Hinesh Shah, a forensic accountant at Pinsent Masons, told the FT, “fraudsters always seek to prey on less experienced investors by promising huge returns.” Crypto crime is already prevalent in the United Kingdom, with police officers seizing hundreds of millions of pounds in cryptocurrency and crypto experts stationed across the country.