The FBI revealed in a report that crypto scams increased a lot in 2023 with victims losing approximately $5.6 billion, a 45% surge compared to 2022.
According to the report, the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) received over 70,000 complaints about crypto fraud last year.
Most of these cases were investment frauds involving Bitcoin and Ethereum, making up around 71% of the losses. While older Americans, especially those over 60, were mostly affected, there were also some targeting people aged 30-39.
Some scammers often start by contacting the victim through social media, email, or text messages. They often try to build trust with the victim over time and then move the conversation to encrypted apps like WhatsApp to make the scam seem more legitimate.
Another common scam that made up about 10% of the losses is the call center scam, which includes fake tech sup tech support and impersonations of government agencies.
Cryptocurrency kiosks—machines that let users exchange cash for digital money—are also being used in fraud schemes. More than 5,500 complaints about these kiosks resulted in losses of over $189 million.
However, because cryptocurrencies are decentralized and can be used globally without traditional financial checks, tracking and recovering stolen funds is very difficult.
The FBI warns people to carefully check any investment offers they come across online and to be wary of deals that seem too good to be true.
Also Read: Indian State Himachal Sees Crypto Scams Of $238M (Rs 2,000 Crore) in 3 Years: CM
