The Federal Bureau of Investigation has released a report on crypto scams in the United States stating that crypto scams surged by 45% since last year and Americans lost over $5.6 billion to crypto scams in 2023.
The FBI report, released on September 9, addressed the magnitude of crypto scams in the United States together with other details surrounding the ugly development.
”Dear Reader: As the use of cryptocurrency in the global financial system continues to grow, so too does its use by criminal actors. In 2023, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) received more than 69,000 complaints from the public regarding financial fraud involving the use of cryptocurrencies, such as bitcoin, ether, or tether. Estimated losses with a nexus to cryptocurrency totaled more than $5.6 billion. While the number of cryptocurrency-related complaints represents only about 10 percent of the total financial fraud complaints, the losses associated with these complaints account for almost 50 percent of the total losses.
Complaints filed in 2023 show that criminal actors exploit cryptocurrencies in each scheme category tracked by IC3. The exploitation of cryptocurrency was most pervasive in investment scams, where losses accounted for almost 71 percent of all losses related to cryptocurrency. Call center frauds, including tech/customer support scams and government impersonation scams, accounted for about 10 percent of losses associated with cryptocurrency,”The FBI report read in parts
The report highlighted that investment scams were the costliest and accounted for 71% of the total losses, about $3.96 billion. Call center fraud and government impersonation scams followed contributing 10% of the total tally.
The most affected demographic were individuals over 60 who reported the highest number of complaints. This demographic collectively lost $1.6 billion
Prevalent Scams in the US
Scammers in the United States employ all manner of schemes to fleece their victims off their crypto assets. Scammers usually build up some trust with their victims through dating apps or social media before luring them to invest in some fraudulent cryptocurrency scheme.
Some of the scams highlighted by the FBI include investment scams, lottery scams, romance scams, credit card fraud, extortion, and ransomware.
Pig butchering scams are quite common where scammers entice victims with the promise of genuine love interest only to lure the victims into fraudulent schemes where they lose all their assets.
Some fraudulent recovery services also specialize in duping people looking to recover their stolen assets.
The FBI warned the public to apply caution and wisdom when dealing with strangers asking them to join investment schemes as anyone could be a target.
What to Know
The top types of crypto scams include Rug pulls, Pig butchering, Exit scams, and investment scams.
An American bank executive was sentenced to 24 years in prison for orchestrating a pig butchering scam which led to the collapse of his bank.
