Consumer protection agencies are getting worried about cryptocurrencies. The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued an investor alert today warning about the risks of investing in bitcoin and other virtual currencies such as Peercoin, Dogecoin, and Minacoin. This is actually the SEC’s second cryptocurrency-related alert. The first was issued last summer after the agency prosecuted a man for running a pyramid scheme in the virtual currency. Meanwhile, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) recently issued a similar alert, while the North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA) added virtual currencies to its list of top 10 investor threats for 2013. The SEC issues investor alerts a few times a year about popular schemes that cause people to part with their money.