According to an FBI report, over 10% of financial fraud cases involve cryptocurrencies: losses amounted to $5.6 billion for American citizens in 2023.
The United States FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center has released its 2023 report on cryptocurrency-related fraud. Americans experienced losses totaling $5.6 billion, marking a 45% increase from the previous year. Complaints related to cryptocurrencies accounted for 10% of all received reports but represented almost 50% of the total financial losses. The majority of complaints came from California, Florida, and Texas.
People over the age of 60 were the most frequently targeted demographic, with losses nearing $1.6 billion. In total, over 69,000 cryptocurrency-related complaints were filed, predominantly by individuals in the United States.
The report shows that investment schemes (Ponzi and pyramid) are among the most common types of fraud, making up 71% of reported cases. Other significant scams include call center fraud, phishing attacks, Play-to-Earn scams, and companies falsely claiming to recover lost cryptocurrencies.
Crypto ATMs
Crypto ATMs also represent a tool exploited for cryptocurrency fraud according to the FBI: 5,500 fraud cases conducted through ATMs resulted in losses exceeding $189 million. The privacy offered by ATMs that do not require KYC attracts fraudulent activities such as customer service fraud, extortion, and romance scams.
James Barnacle, deputy assistant director of the FBI’s criminal investigative division, emphasized the low likelihood of recovering funds lost through crypto ATMs. Barnacle added that the FBI notifies people when it discovers they have been victims of fraud:
“Of the 3,000 people we’ve notified this year, 75% had no idea they were victims of fraud.”
