FBI Reports $9.3B in Losses in Crypto Scams in 2024: Details

The FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) revealed in its 2024 annual report that digital asset scams have reached new heights, both in volume and severity. 

According to the report, the IC3 received over 140,000 crypto-related complaints last year, resulting in a staggering $9.3 billion in losses—a 66% jump from 2023’s $5.6 billion tally.

Investment Scams Dominate

While younger tech-savvy users are often primary targets of crypto scams, the data paints a different picture. Individuals aged 60 and above bore the brunt of the damage, filing roughly 33,000 complaints and accounting for a hefty $2.8 billion in losses. The report emphasized that scammers disproportionately targeted adults, often unfamiliar with the nuances of digital currencies.

Investment-related fraud made up the largest share of total financial losses. Yet, the highest number of individual complaints came from “sextortion” scams—where altered explicit content target victims. Other prevalent fraud tactics included the use of crypto ATMs and physical kiosks to siphon money from unsuspecting users.

FBI Interventions Rise

The FBI highlighted its proactive work through “Operation Level Up,” which reportedly prevented an additional $285 million in potential losses between January 2024 and January 2025. However, experts warn that this might only be a temporary buffer.

Blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis issued a parallel warning, suggesting that 2025 could be even more dangerous for investors. The reason? Generative AI is now making scams more scalable, more convincing, and cheaper to execute. With deepfake technologies and AI-generated identities gaining traction, distinguishing real from fake is becoming increasingly difficult—even for the sharpest digital natives.

Globally, illicit activity in the crypto space topped $41 billion last year, with roughly a quarter of those funds linked to hacking, extortion, trafficking, or scams. Among the most jarring incidents were the $1.4 billion stolen from Bybit and another $1.3 billion attributed to North Korean state-sponsored hacking groups.