The state’s The Division of Securities on Monday warned of five likely sources of investment fraud in 2020, which include real estate, cryptocurrency and social media.

“Don’t fall for promises of guaranteed high returns with little to no risk or deals pitched with a false sense of urgency or limited availability,” said acting Securities Commissioner David Cheval in a statement.

The division is a member of the North American Securities Administrators Association, which developed the list. The list also mentions Ponzi schemes and promissory notes. The underlying message is to avoid “too good to be true” offers.

“Many of the threats facing investors involve private offerings, which are exempt from federal securities registration requirements and are not sold through public stock exchanges,” the division elaborated. “Unregistered private offerings generally are high-risk investments and don’t have the same investor protection requirements as investments sold through public markets.”

Drawing a comparison to unlicensed doctors or dentists, the division advised that investors should determine if a salesperson is licensed or registered.

The attorney general’s Consumer Protection Section states that older populations are especially at risk, and that such fraud can be devastating to retirement funds and personal savings. In fiscal year 2018, the securities division, reported shutting down eight cryptocurrency sites, and the previous year opened 88 investigations resulting in 10 criminal indictments.