FBI Says Crypto Funding Fraud Rose 183% to $2.57 Billion in 2022

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) says cryptocurrency funding fraud rose 183% from $907 million in 2021 to $2.57 billion in 2022, primarily based on knowledge from its Web Crime Grievance Heart (IC3). The FBI additionally warned the general public of “a spike in cryptocurrency funding schemes.”

FBI’s Crypto Crime Statistics

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) revealed its 2022 Web Crime Report final week. The report is compiled utilizing knowledge from the company’s Web Crime Grievance Heart (IC3) which “serves as a public useful resource to submit experiences of cyberattacks and incidents,” the bureau described.

“In 2022, funding scams have been the most costly scheme reported to the IC3. Funding fraud complaints elevated from $1.45 billion in 2021 to $3.31 billion in 2022, which is a 127% [increase],” the FBI wrote, including:

Inside these complaints, cryptocurrency funding fraud rose from $907 million in 2021 to $2.57 billion in 2022, a rise of 183%.

“Crypto-investment scams noticed unprecedented will increase within the variety of victims and the greenback losses to those traders. Many victims have assumed large debt to cowl losses from these fraudulent investments and essentially the most focused age group reporting any such rip-off are victims ages 30 to 49,” the report particulars.

The FBI additionally highlighted prevalent cryptocurrency funding scams in 2022, reminiscent of these associated to liquidity mining, hacked social media accounts, celeb impersonation, actual property professionals, and employment.

Following the discharge of its newest Web Crime Report, the FBI issued a public service announcement Monday, warning the general public of “a spike in cryptocurrency funding schemes.”

Citing knowledge from IC3, the bureau defined: “Criminals, usually primarily based abroad, defrauded victims of greater than two billion U.S. {dollars} in 2022 utilizing these schemes.” The announcement notes:

The schemes are socially-engineered and trust-enabled, normally starting with a romance or confidence rip-off and evolving into cryptocurrency funding fraud.

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