While some cynics suggest the entire crypto currency fad may be a fraud -- because it's not really backed by anything -- investigators are warning of actual crypto currency fraud in Texas.
Joe Rotunda is director of the enforcement division of the Texas State Securities Board.
"The problem is the crooks, the con artists, the scam artists; the people who want to defraud the public can look at the rise in the value of Bitcoin and the popularity of it and try to use that to exploit the investing public."
Rotunda says scammers are confusing investors with fake currencies with names similar to Bitcoin and some victims believe they're actually buying Bitcoin.
"It's a very confusing field; extremely confusing -- highly technical -- there's a lot of different names for coins and some of those names sound exactly alike so it's really tough for investors to parse through all the noise and figure out exactly what they're getting."
Rotunda says contact the securities board before you invest in a crypto currency, to see which are registered with the state and are otherwise above board. He says those with legitimate crypto currency investment opportunities won't call you -- you have to contact them.