Consumers experienced losses exceeding $5.6 billion last year due to cryptocurrency-related fraud, as estimated by the US Federal Bureau of Investigations—an increase of 45% compared to 2022.
According to a report released on Monday, the FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center received nearly 69,500 fraud complaints from consumers both in the US and internationally.
Although cryptocurrency-related complaints comprised about 10% of all financial fraud reports, they accounted for nearly 50% of the total financial losses, the report noted.
Following a downturn in the crypto market in 2022, rising token prices last year rekindled criminal interest. Bitcoin’s value more than doubled last year and has increased by approximately 35% in 2024.
“As the use of cryptocurrency in the global financial system continues to grow, so too does its use by criminal actors,” Michael Nordwall, assistant director of the FBI Criminal Investigative Division, wrote in the report.
According to the report, cryptocurrency was most commonly used by criminals in investment scams, which represented nearly 71% of the total losses. Call center frauds, including government impersonation schemes, contributed to about 10% of the cryptocurrency-related losses.