FBI ties over $9b in 2024 fraud losses to crypto scams, led by ‘pig butchering’ schemes

Investment scams involving crypto represented more than 50% of all crypto losses in 2024, according to the latest FBI report.

Cybercrime involving cryptocurrencies reached record heights in 2024, the FBI internet complaints center reporting $ 16.6 billion in internet crime losses – a jump of 33% compared to 2023 – including $ 9.3 billion linked to scams related to cryptography, up 66% over the year.

In 47 pages reportThe FBI said that cryptocurrency had played a “central role” in cybercrime losses in 2024, noting that nearly 150,000 complaints involved cryptocurrencies.

Investment scams have caused the most damage, causing $ 5.8 billion in declared losses. Many of these cases involved a “pig butcher”, where crooks establish false online relationships and encourage victims to invest in fraudulent cryptographic platforms.

The older Americans were the hardest affected. Victims aged 60 and over declared more than $ 2.8 billion loss of cryptographic scam, most of the age group. In order to counter the trend, the FBI launched a level of operation at the beginning of 2024, where more than 4,300 victims were identified and that 76% of them were not aware when the agency contacted them that they were in fact the victim.

Analysts of the judicial company Blockchain Trm Labs noted in a research note This scam remained the “dominant form of illegal activity to the chain in 2024”, with investment and financial grooming scams causing billions of losses. TRM Labs has identified “at least $ 10.7 billion in cryptographic funds sent to fraudulent diets, with thousands of new phishing and investment swindle websites appearing monthly.”

Analysts added that crooks continue to use QR codes, automatic crypto ticket distributors and stablecoins like USDT from Tether (USDT) or decentralized Stablecoin Dai (Dai) to reach the victims, often through characters generated by AI.