The European Union has warned that consumers risk losing all their money invested in cryptoassets and could fall prey to scams.

Releasing a joint statement on Thursday, March 17, European Union’s securities, banking and insurance watchdogs revealed that crypto consumers have no protections or recourse to compensation under existing EU financial services law.

It marks a racheting up of direct warnings to consumers about cryptoassets by EU authorities, as financial regulators are increasingly worried that more consumers are buying 17,000 different cryptoassets, including bitcoin and ether, which account for 60% of the market, without being fully aware of the risks, the regulators said.

“Consumers face the very real possibility of losing all their invested money if they buy these assets,” the three EU authorities said in a statement.

“Consumers should be alert to the risks of misleading advertisements, including via social media and influencers. Consumers should be particularly wary of promised fast or high returns, especially those that look too good to be true,” the statement said.

Consumers should also be aware of that energy consumption for producing some cryptoassets is high and poses direct impact to the environment.