Crypto

Cryptocurrency Scams Cost Americans $5.6B In 2023, FBI Report Shows

Published

1 year ago

September 10, 2024

Cryptocurrency Scams Cost Americans .6B In 2023, FBI Report Shows

The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) has disclosed that Americans lost a staggering $5.6 billion to cryptocurrency-related fraud in 2023.

What Happened: This figure, released in the FBI’s 2023 Cryptocurrency Fraud Report, marks a 45% increase from the previous year, highlighting the growing sophistication of cybercriminals in the digital asset space.

The report details that while cryptocurrency-related complaints accounted for only 10% of all financial fraud reports, they represented nearly half of the total financial losses, highlighting the high-stakes nature of cryptocurrency scams.

Investment fraud emerged as the dominant form of cryptocurrency-related crime, accounting for 71% of all losses.

The FBI noted a particular increase in “confidence-enabled cryptocurrency investment fraud,” where criminals build trust with victims through dating apps, social media, or professional networking sites before introducing fraudulent investment opportunities.

Also Read: Metaplanet Acquires 38.6 Bitcoin for $2.2M, Expanding Total Holdings To 398.8 BTC

“Criminals exploit the decentralized nature of cryptocurrency, the speed of irreversible transactions, and the ability to transfer value around the globe,” said Michael D. Nordwall, Assistant Director of the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division. “This creates significant challenges in recovering stolen funds.”

The report also highlighted an alarming trend of labor trafficking connected to cryptocurrency scams, with individuals lured overseas by false job advertisements and forced to participate in fraudulent operations.

Interestingly, the age group reporting the highest losses was those over 60, with more than $1.24 billion in reported losses, despite younger age groups filing more complaints overall.

What’s next: In light of these findings, the upcoming Benzinga Future of Digital Assets event on Nov. 19 takes on added significance as a platform to discuss the advantages and drawbacks of building a cryptocurrency-based financial system.

Read Next:

Image: Shutterstock

Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs

Click to comment

Crypto

Westlake police say cryptocurrency scam cost woman over $5,000

Published

5 hours ago

December 13, 2025

Press Room

Westlake police say cryptocurrency scam cost woman over ,000

WESTLAKE, Ohio – A convenience store clerk at 1:30 p.m. on Nov. 26 alerted a police dispatcher that a female customer was feeding large amounts of cash into a cryptocurrency ATM at the store on Center Ridge Road at Dover Center Road.

The clerk said the customer would not believe the clerk’s warning that she was being scammed.

Officers arrived to find the 71-year-old still “anxiously depositing” cash into the machine. Officers told her to stop, but she did not believe the uniformed men. The officers talked to her for several minutes before she finally believed that there was an issue. She was still on the phone with the scammer at the time.

The incident started that morning when the victim received a pop-up message on her home computer instructing her to call a provided support phone number due to a supposed issue with the computer’s operating system. She called the number and was connected to a man who claimed he was a representative from Apple, according to a police department press release.

The man talked her into allowing him remote access to her computer while he asked for her bank information. The scammer talked the victim into believing that there was a problem with her accounts, and she was at risk of losing $18,000 in connection with pornographic websites out of China or Mexico.

She was connected to a fake fraud department for her bank, and another scammer persuaded her to go to a bank and withdraw as much cash as they would allow. The scammer even told her to give the teller a story about needing cash to buy a car. The perpetrator kept the woman on the phone as she took out cash and traveled to the crypto ATM. The victim had deposited approximately $5,500 before officers persuaded her to stop. The Westlake Detective Bureau is attempting to recover the lost funds.

Get police blotters by email every weekday for free with our new Police Blotter newsletter. Sign up at cleveland.com/newsletters.

Read more from the West Shore Sun.

Crypto

Youtube Expands Creator Monetization Using Paypal USD Stablecoin

Published

17 hours ago

December 13, 2025

Press Room

Youtube Expands Creator Monetization Using Paypal USD Stablecoin

Youtube has reportedly begun letting U.S. creators receive payouts in Paypal’s dollar-pegged stablecoin, Paypal USD (PYUSD), signaling a shift toward regulated digital currencies as mainstream payment tools and deepening stablecoins’ role in creator monetization.

Crypto

Cryptocurrency Company Tether Bids For Italian Soccer Club Juventus

Published

1 day ago

December 12, 2025

Press Room

Cryptocurrency Company Tether Bids For Italian Soccer Club Juventus

Stablecoin issuer Tether said Friday it has submitted an all-cash offer to buy Italian soccer juggernaut Juventus from the Agnelli family, a novel bid by a cryptocurrency company to acquire a blue-chip global soccer club from one of Europe’s most storied dynasties.

Tether is the largest stablecoin issuer with $186 billion of its USDT tokens in circulation. The company previously took an