Americans lost $5.6 billion last year in cryptocurrency fraud scams, the FBI says

WASHINGTON — Americans were scammed out of more than $5.6 billion in cryptocurrency fraud last year, the FBI said in a report released on Monday which shows a 45% jump in losses compared to 2022.

According to the FBI, in 2023, the FBI received nearly 70,000 complaints from victims of financial fraud involving bitcoin, ether and other cryptocurrencies. The most widespread fraud was investment fraud, accounting for $3.96 billion of the losses.

“The decentralized nature of cryptocurrency, the speed of irreversible transactions, and the ability to transfer value around the world make cryptocurrency an attractive vehicle for criminals, while creating challenges in recovering stolen funds,” wrote Michael Nordwall, assistant director of the FBI’s criminal investigations division.

Scammers often reach out via dating apps or social media to build trust over several weeks or months before suggesting they invest in cryptocurrency, the FBI said. Once the relationship is established, they convince targets to use fake websites or apps to invest their money, sometimes even allowing victims to make small withdrawals early on to make it appear legitimate.

According to the FBI, in some cases, these victims are then targeted by rogue companies that claim they will help the victims recover the lost cryptocurrency.

FBI officials say Americans of all ages can be targets of these types of scams and should be extremely cautious when offered investment opportunities by people they’ve never met in real life.