The FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Centre (IC3) received nearly 150,000 reports of fraudulent crypto activities, with the top three cybercrimes being phishing/spoofing, extortion, and personal data breaches
By Titilope Adako
The FBI has revealed that cryptocurrency-related fraud accounted for a staggering $9.3 billion in 2024, contributing to the total $16.6 billion in internet crime losses.
This marks a 33% increase in overall internet crime compared to the previous year, with crypto-related fraud seeing a 66% rise.
A significant portion of the losses, $5.8 billion, stemmed from cryptocurrency investment scams.
The FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Centre (IC3) received nearly 150,000 reports of fraudulent crypto activities, with the top three cybercrimes being phishing/spoofing, extortion, and personal data breaches.
To address this growing threat, the FBI launched Operation Level Up in early 2024, identifying over 4,300 victims of crypto scams.
The FBI report noted, “Utilizing IC3 complaint data, Operation Level Up reported 4,323 victims of cryptocurrency investment fraud were notified.”
Of these, 76% were unaware they were being scammed, with total potential savings of $285.6 million prevented.
The operation also helped 42 victims by referring them to specialists for suicide intervention. “42 victims referred to an FBI victim specialist before introducing a fraudulent investment for suicide intervention.”
In addition to supporting victims, the FBI is employing a multi-faceted investigative strategy to disrupt criminal networks behind these schemes.
“The bureau said the operation not only helped warn and assist victims but also generated valuable intelligence about the criminal groups behind the scams.”
The FBI is also collaborating with international and domestic partners to target and dismantle these organized crime operations, adding, “The bureau added that it would continue collaborating with domestic and international partners to identify, target, and disrupt criminal organisations facilitating crypto-related fraud.”
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