In 2025, the cryptocurrency landscape experienced remarkable growth, primarily fueled by Bitcoin’s remarkable increase. Unfortunately, this surge also saw a significant spike in scams involving digital currencies, according to the latest report from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

Escalating Scam Concerns

The FBI reported that American victims faced losses totaling approximately $11.4 billion due to cryptocurrency scams in 2025, marking a 22% rise compared to the previous year. This staggering amount stemmed from 181,565 complaints related to crypto assets, which itself showed a 21% annual increase.

The Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) received a whopping 1,008,597 reports in 2025, an increase from 859,532 in 2024. The most common scams reported included phishing attempts, extortion, and deceitful investment schemes.

Interestingly, seniors aged 60 and above encountered considerable losses, with reported damages around $7.7 billion—a striking 37% increase over 2024. This trend highlights the ongoing exploitation of older individuals by scammers.

The report also identified a concerning rise in scams utilizing artificial intelligence (AI). For the first time, the IC3 included a section dedicated to AI abuse, noting 22,364 complaints linked to such scams, which resulted in almost $893 million in losses.

These advanced schemes frequently employ psychological pressure techniques, enhanced by fake social media profiles, voice manipulation technologies, fraudulent identification, and incredibly realistic videos to persuade victims to relinquish their funds.

Leading States in Crypto Scams

The report highlighted fraudulent activities involving cryptocurrency ATMs and kiosks. In 2025, there were 13,460 complaints related to such machines, leading to losses totaling $389 million—a notable 23% increase in complaints and a 58% surge in monetary losses from 2024.

Investment schemes emerged as the most frequent complaint type, generating 61,559 reports. Extortion and phishing were also prevalent, resulting in 23,797 and 7,164 complaints, respectively.

The IC3 also detailed various other scam types reported throughout 2025, including technology support scams, data breaches, employment fraud, and compromised business communications.

In terms of geography, the majority of complaints originated from heavily populated states. California topped the list with 20,878 crypto-related reports, closely followed by Texas (13,965), Florida (13,381), New York (8,088), and Pennsylvania (5,118).

The FBI has been proactive in its enforcement and prevention strategies. Launched in 2024, Operation Level Up aims at reaching out and notifying individuals at risk of falling victim to cryptocurrency fraud. To date, over 8,000 potential victims have been warned, effectively reducing losses by more than $500 million. Expanding on this initiative, the FBI introduced Operation Winter SHIELD in 2026, designed to provide organizations with actionable strategies to enhance their cybersecurity defenses.

Image courtesy of OpenArt; chart data from TradingView.com