FBI 2023 Crypto Fraud Report: $5.6 Billion in Losses, Up 45% since 2022

The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) issued the 2023 cryptocurrency fraud report on Monday. The FBI has revealed that losses from cryptocurrency-related frauds and scams increased by 45% in 2023 compared to 2022, totaling more than $5.6 billion, as scammers increasingly took advantage of the speed and irreversibility of digital asset transactions. 

That growth, however, has also increased the use of cryptocurrency by criminal actors, the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) said. “Since cryptocurrencies eliminate the need for financial intermediaries to validate and facilitate transactions, criminals can exploit these characteristics to support illicit activity such as thefts, fraud, and money laundering,” the FBI said.

In particular, losses from cryptocurrency-related investment fraud schemes reported to the IC3 rose from $2.57 billion in 2022 to $3.96 billion in 2023, an increase of 53%, accounting for 71% of all cryptocurrency-related losses last year, according to the report. Call center scams and government impersonation scams accounted for 10% of the losses.

source: FBI

The largest number of complaints involving cryptocurrencies received by the FBI came from people over the age of 60, with more than $1.6 billion in losses from that group.

source: FBI

While cryptocurrency transactions are recorded on publicly available blockchains, making it easy for law enforcement to track the funds, the funds are often moved overseas quickly, and U.S. officials can encounter obstacles, such as lax anti-money laundering laws in some jurisdictions, the FBI said.