Crypto Investment Fraud Jumped 50% in 2023

The FBI revealed that cryptocurrency-related investment fraud accounted for the largest share of investment losses in the United States in 2023.

According to their recent report, losses from crypto-related investments rose from $2.57 billion in 2022 to approximately $3.94 billion in 2023, marking a 53% increase.

This amount constituted about 86% of all investment fraud losses in the country, with the total losses from all investments in 2023 reaching $4.57 billion.

The FBI highlighted that a growing number of individuals are lured into crypto scams by the promise of high returns on their investments.

Romance scams are among the most prevalent crypto scams, where perpetrators create fake online personas to establish trust and affection with victims before persuading them to send cryptocurrency, only to vanish thereafter.

In December 2023, Chainalysis reported that romance scams resulted in at least $374 million in suspected stolen crypto.

Additionally, Cointelegraph reported on Jan. 1 that over 324,000 crypto users were ensnared by phishing scams in 2023, resulting in approximately $295 million in lost digital assets.

The increase in citizens falling prey to crypto scams is not exclusive to the U.S., as other countries worldwide are also grappling with similar issues.

In April 2023, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission disclosed that Australians lost 221.3 million Australian dollars ($146.9 million) in investment scams involving crypto as the payment method in 2022, reflecting a 162.4% surge from 2021.

Sources:

https://cointelegraph.com/news/crypto-investment-fraud-fbi-united-states-scams

https://www.ic3.gov/Media/PDF/AnnualReport/2023_IC3Report.pdf