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Investors lost a whopping $5.6 billion to crypto-related financial crime last year, marking a 45% increase from what was seen in 2022, the FBI has stated.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) Internet Crime Complaint Center has published a new report sharing the details, with 69,000 reports of crypto-related crimes reported to the agency in 2023.
Almost half of the reports were related to investment fraud, with fraudsters making off with close to $4 billion. The next most popular crime type, with investors seeing a loss of just shy of half a billion dollars, was a personal data breach. This was followed closely by technology support crimes.
The most complaints came from the State of California, with Florida second and Texas third. American Samoa had just one reported complaint, making it the least affected territory in 2023, although with a population of around 45,000, it’s also the least populated state or territory within the US.
Over $1 billion was taken from people in California, with their losses amounting to $1,155,315,595.
FBI: Investment fraud was the most common crypto scam in 2023
Investment fraud is when a deceptive practice has taken place to encourage someone to invest based on false information. An opportunity is usually touted to someone as being the chance to see large returns with low minimal risk.
In the report, analysts describe why this has caused so many losses: “Over the years, cryptocurrency’s widespread promotion as an investment vehicle, combined with a mindset associated with the ‘fear of missing out,’ has led to opportunities for criminals to target consumers and retail investors—particularly those who seek to profit from investing but are unfamiliar with the technology and the attendant risks”
Losses from cryptocurrency-related investment fraud increased by 53% from $2.57 billion in 2022 to $3.96 billion a year later in 2023.
The report says “many individuals have accumulated massive debt to cover losses from these fraudulent investments.”
The age ranges most affected for this type of crime were those in the 30 – 39 and 40 – 49 bracket in terms of the amount of complaints, but those over the age of 60 reported the highest losses.
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