Can someone educate me about crypto currencies. What are they?
They are virtual or digital currencies that are based on cryptography and hold an economic value thus can also be used as a medium of exchange
How do they work?
Read here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CryptocurrencyHow do you buy them?Through centralized and decentralized crypto spot and P2P exchanges.
How do you transfer them?From one address of the blockchain to another of the same cryptocurrency
How do you trade them for cash?
Same answer as your third question
Does their value fluctuate like traditional currencies?
Of course the value fluctuates. Even way more volatile than tradition currencies
Are there any risk to owning them?
The biggest risk is volatility and then maybe hacks or theft of your funds from your personal wallets in case your private keys or login credentials get leaked
Is there a fraud risk?
Definitely we have so many scam coins and tokens, scam exchanges and scam investimate programs or ponzi schemes