I have been investing for decades. I have invested in about ten penny stocks over the years. I have lost money on only two of them: RLTR and ICTN/BCCI.
Why did I lose? Because the CEO is a crook and I failed to do Due Diligence on the CEO until it was too late. Luckily, I didn't put that much money in it. While this is my biggest stock investment loss ever in terms of percentage, I have had a couple of bigger ones in terms of dollars.
It is not the loss that ticks me off; it is the fraud. And this could have been a winner.