United

April

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The United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) reported that cryptocurrency-related investment fraud constituted the largest portion of investment losses within the U.S. in 2023.&nbsp;
In a recent <a href="https://www.ic3.gov/Media/PDF/AnnualReport/2023_IC3Report.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow">report</a>, the FBI stated that investment losses involving crypto increased from $2.57 billion in 2022 to around $3.94 billion in 2023, representing a 53% increase.
Meanwhile, the overall amount lost from all investments in 2023 totaled $4.57 billion. This means the $3.94 billion lost in crypto-related fraud made up approximately 86% of all investment fraud losses in the nation.
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 <img src="https://s3.cointelegraph.com/uploads/2024-03/18bc29f2-65b2-4ad7-aad7-252cc0a8811f.png" alt="" title="">
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 Investment fraud losses reported to the Internet Crime Complaint Center. Source: FBI/IC3
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The FBI emphasized that a rising number of victims are drawn into crypto scams enticed by the promise of significant returns on their investments.
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 “These scams are designed to entice those targeted with the promise of lucrative returns on their investments.”
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One of the most common crypto scams people are <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/cryptocurrency-exchange-debiex-romance-scam-allegations">falling victim to is romance scams</a>. This is where a criminal adopts a fake online identity to gain a victim’s affection and trust before creating a story to <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/crypto-romance-scammers-adopt-approval-phishing-scams-chainalysis">persuade the victim to send crypto</a>, only to disappear after.
In December 2023, Chainalysis reported that romance scams were the cause for at least $374 million in suspected stolen crypto in 2023.
Related: <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/crypto-safekeeping-tips-hackers-scammers">4 tips that’ll keep your crypto safe from hackers this bull market</a>
Meanwhile, on Jan. 1, Cointelegraph reported that over 324,000 <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/crypto-phishing-scams-2023-300-million-dollars-324k-victims-report">crypto users fell victim to phishing scams in 2023</a>, with around $295 million in digital assets lost to wallet drainers.
However, the rise in the number of citizens falling victim to crypto scams isn’t just in the U.S.; other countries worldwide are also experiencing a similar issue.
In April 2023, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission reported that Australians lost 221.3 million Australian dollars ($146.9 million) from investment scams <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/australian-crypto-scams-increased-by-over-162-with-nearly-150m-lost">where crypto was used as the payment method in 2022</a> — a 162.4% increase from 2021.
Magazine: <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/magazine/cryptopunk-seedphrase-sothebys-nft-collector/">Owner of seven-trait CryptoPunk Seedphrase partners with Sotheby’s: NFT Collector</a>

Crypto-related investment fraud rose 53% in 2023 — FBI

Cointelegraph

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