The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in the United States has revealed that investment fraud related to cryptocurrency accounted for the largest share of investment losses in the country in 2023.
According to a recent report by the FBI, losses due to crypto-related investment fraud increased from $2.57 billion in 2022 to approximately $3.94 billion in 2023, marking a 53% rise. This amount constituted around 86% of all investment fraud losses in the country, while the total losses from all investments in 2023 reached $4.57 billion.
The FBI highlighted that an increasing number of individuals are being lured into crypto scams by the promise of significant returns on their investments. Among the most prevalent scams is the romance scam, where criminals adopt fake online identities to gain the trust and affection of victims before persuading them to send cryptocurrency. However, once the crypto is sent, the criminals disappear.
In December 2023, Chainalysis reported that romance scams were responsible for at least $374 million in suspected stolen crypto in the same year. Additionally, Cointelegraph reported that over 324,000 crypto users fell victim to phishing scams in 2023, resulting in approximately $295 million in digital asset losses.
It is not only the United States that is grappling with an increase in crypto scams; other countries worldwide are also facing similar challenges. In April 2023, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission disclosed that Australians lost 221.3 million Australian dollars ($146.9 million) to investment scams involving crypto as the payment method in 2022, representing a staggering 162.4% surge from 2021.