Americans were scammed out of more than $5.6 billion in 2023 involving cryptocurrency fraud. The Federal Bureau of Investigation said in a report that the agency received over 69,000 complaints last year from victims of financial schemes involving bitcoin, ether, and other cryptocurrencies. The FBI report released Monday shows a 45 percent jump in losses from 2022.The most common scam was investment fraud, which accounted for $3.96 billion of the losses.
When a relationship is established between the scammer and the victim, the criminal will persuade the victim to use a phony website or app to invest their money in cryptocurrency. In certain instances, victims are targeted by fake companies alleging they will help the individual retrieve the cryptocurrency they lost. If you or someone you know may have been the victim of cryptocurrency fraud, the FBI encourages people to submit a complaint through IC3.gov, even if a monetary loss did not happen.