ALBAWABA - The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) noted in a report that was issued on Monday that Americans were defrauded out of more than $5.6 billion in cryptocurrency scams in the previous year, a 45% increase in losses compared to 2022.
Since the beginning of this year, exchange-traded funds that follow the values of cryptocurrencies like bitcoin and ether have been introduced to the market in the United States, as per Yahoo, which has led to an increase in the popularity of cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin and ether.
Cryptocurrency values started to rise last year after a 2022 crypto market collapse, which piqued criminals' appetite once again. Bitcoin rose by about 100% in the previous year and by over 35% in 2024.
This expansion has also led to a spike in the use of cryptocurrency by criminal actors, according to the report published by the Internet Crime Complaint Center of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. With victims reporting losing over $4 billion on cryptocurrency-related investments in 2023, compared to $2.57 billion in 2022.
Last year, the FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center garnered close to 69,500 inquiries from both domestic and international users. In addition, the study found that while complaints regarding cryptocurrencies accounted for just 10% of all financial fraud complaints, the losses connected with them made for almost 50% of all losses.
An official from the Federal Bureau of Investigation told media on a conference call that this is the very first time the agency has produced a report that focuses solely on crypto-related fraud from an extensive collection of yearly fraud statistics, according to CNN.
In an effort to recuperate future stolen assets, the FBI is working to increase public awareness of the problem and encourage victims to report cryptocurrency theft as soon as possible. The FBI official said, "Many victims have accumulated massive debt to cover losses from these fraudulent investments."
“As the use of cryptocurrency in the global financial system continues to grow, so too does its use by criminal actors,” Michael Nordwall, the assistant director of the Criminal Investigative Division, highlighted in the report.
