The Americans reported a record of $ 9.3 billion in losses for crimes related to cryptocurrencies in 2024, according to a report from the Internet Crimes Center of the Federal Investigation Office (FBI) (IC3). Losses represent a 66% leap since 2023 and highlight the growing use of digital assets in online fraud schemes.
The annual IC3 report says that almost 150,000 complaints linked to cryptography, with investment fraud leading the way. In these schemes, scammers often intend to offer high yields of false cryptocurrency platforms, convincing victims to transfer funds that are then fading.
The FBI also highlighted “pork butcher shop”, where scammers build online relationships before pushing false cryptographic investments. Cryptographic investment schemes led to $ 5.8 billion in losses, while the second largest category for losses at $ 1.1 billion were data violations.
The American elders brought the worst part of the damage. People over 60 reported $ 2.8 billion in losses through crimes related to cryptographic, more than any other age group, compared to $ 1.65 billion in 2023 and $ 1.08 billion in 2022.
The second most affected age group, those aged 40 to 49, suffered $ 1.4 billion in losses, while children under 40 suffered combined losses of around $ 1.37 billion.
More than 8,000 complaints emerged from people over 60 years of age and related to false investment opportunities, while others were victims of fraud schemes and supplantation of technical support, often involving cryptocurrency automatic cashiers.
Operation Level Up, a government initiative launched in January 2024, identified thousands of victims of cryptographic investment fraud and avoided an estimate of $ 285 million in additional losses, according to the report. He referred to 42 victims for suicidal intervention.
