The FBI recently disclosed a troubling trend in the United States, revealing that cryptocurrency-related investment fraud accounted for the majority of investment losses in 2023. According to their report, losses stemming from crypto investments escalated from $2.57 billion in 2022 to approximately $3.94 billion in 2023, marking a substantial 53% surge.
Interestingly, the total amount lost across all investments in 2023 amounted to $4.57 billion. This indicates that the $3.94 billion lost due to crypto-related fraud constituted a staggering 86% of all investment fraud losses nationwide.
The FBI highlighted the concerning fact that an increasing number of individuals are falling prey to crypto scams enticed by the allure of substantial returns on their investments. Among the most prevalent scams targeting unsuspecting victims are romance scams. These scams involve criminals adopting fake online identities to gain the affection and trust of their victims. They then proceed to concoct intricate stories to convince the victims to send crypto, only to vanish into thin air afterwards.
In December 2023, Chainalysis reported that romance scams accounted for at least $374 million in suspected stolen crypto throughout the year. Additionally, Cointelegraph reported on January 1 that over 324,000 crypto users fell victim to phishing scams in 2023, resulting in a loss of approximately $295 million in digital assets.
It is worth noting that the rise in individuals falling victim to crypto scams is not limited to the United States. Numerous countries worldwide are grappling with a similar issue. For instance, in April 2023, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission revealed that Australians lost 221.3 million Australian dollars ($146.9 million) to investment scams involving crypto as the payment method in 2022, marking a staggering 162.4% increase from the previous year.
In related news, the owner of a significant CryptoPunk Seedphrase recently partnered with Sotheby’s, a prestigious auction house, highlighting the growing popularity and value of non-fungible tokens (NFTs).