Crypto Crime Tsunami: FBI Reports $9 Billion Vanished in 2024 Scams—Wall Street Still Calls It ’Innovation’
Another year, another record-breaking crypto heist—only this time, it’s not hackers exploiting code, but good old-fashioned grifters exploiting greed. The FBI’s latest numbers paint a brutal picture: $9 billion evaporated from US investors in 2024 through rug pulls, pig-butchering schemes, and that classic combo of FOMO plus zero due diligence.
The Dark Art of the Digital Grift
While decentralized finance promises to cut out middlemen, it’s proven far better at cutting out common sense. Romance scams now come with tokenomics whitepapers, and ’blockchain auditors’ charge six figures to rubber-stamp projects that collapse weeks later. Even the SEC’s lawsuits can’t keep pace with the creativity of crypto’s underworld.
The Irony Is the Investment
Wall Street banks—who spent a decade dismissing crypto as a Ponzi scheme—are now quietly adding ’digital asset risk exposure’ to their client portfolios. Maybe they figure if you can’t beat ‘em, might as well help launder ‘em.
Older Americans Lose Billions To Digital Currency Fraud
Americans over 60 have become prime targets for cryptocurrency scammers. The FBI report shows that complaints from senior citizens surged 96% in 2024, with 33,36 reports filed compared to 16,96 in 2023. These older victims lost $2.84 billion to crypto fraud schemes, an increase of 71% from the previous year.
Younger age brackets were not left behind either. According to FBI statistics, under-20 victims filed 1,819 reports with losses worth $7.77 million. Americans aged between 20-29 years old reported stolen money worth $370.44 million, while the 30s lost $1 billion. The most affected working-age bracket was 40-49 year olds, who lost $1.46 billion worth of cryptocurrency.
Investment Scams Dominate Crypto Scam Landscape
The report notes how bogus investment schemes are still the most prevalent and expensive crypto scam. As per the FBI, these types of schemes resulted in 41,557 complaints and $5.81 billion in losses, a 47% rise compared to 2023. The victims are normally assured of significant returns on investments in cryptocurrency that never come through.
Other prevalent crypto scam tactics monitored by the FBI include crypto ATM and kiosk scams, which involved almost 11,000 complaints and $246.7 million in losses. Tech support scams in which attackers impersonate IT support garnered $962 million from more than 11,000 victims. Work scams cost Americans $197 million, while romance scams involving cryptocurrency emptied $237 million out of victims searching for love.
Government impersonation scams, in which attackers pose as officials from organizations such as the IRS or Social Security Administration, resulted in $146 million in crypto losses. Ransomware attacks, although fewer at 389 complaints, still resulted in $1.07 million in damages.
The FBI’s “Operation Level Up” program saved millions of dollars in potential losses by warning individuals being targeted by cryptocurrency scammers. The initiative informed 4,323 potential victims of ongoing attempts at fraud targeting them. The report says that 76% of them had no idea they were being defrauded.
This warning system averted a projected $286 million in losses that would have resulted otherwise. How this program succeeded is in direct contrast to the increasing trend of crypto crime which, in large part, made up the overall $16.6 billion Americans swindled online in 2024 – a 33% boost from the year before.
The FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center, marking its 25th anniversary with this report, continues to monitor cryptocurrency fraud as one of the fastest-evolving fields of cybercrime.
Featured image from Issaro Prakalung / EyeEm (Getty Images), chart from TradingView
