The Securities and Exchange Commission wants you to be careful about any investment that's touted as having a connection to bitcoin or other virtual currencies.

The notion of a currency that has no government backing "creates new concerns for investors," the SEC says in an alert issued this week. It adds,

"Potential investors can be easily enticed with the promise of high returns in a new investment space and also may be less skeptical when assessing something novel, new and cutting-edge."



The SEC says people who have made money holding bitcoins may be "attractive targets for fraudsters as well as promoters of high-risk investment opportunities." Fraudsters also "may take advantage of bitcoin users’ vested interest in the success of bitcoin to lure these users into bitcoin-related investment schemes."