A new report from the Consumers Union states that, based on the percentage of unreported cases, Americans could lose as much as $80.7 billion to crypto scams by 2025, far exceeding the $11.37 billion already reported by the FBI. The report concludes that crypto asset-related cases account for more than half of all fraud and cybercrime losses in the United States.
Investment fraud accounts for the majority of losses
The report is based on data from the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center. The FBI received over 1 million complaints last year, with reported losses of $20.9 billion related to various types of fraud and cybercrime, a 26% increase year-over-year. Of this, reported losses from crypto fraud amounted to $11.37 billion, a 22% increase compared to 2024.
The Consumers Union of America used a reporting rate from an earlier survey by the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics, estimating that approximately 14% of victims would report the crime to law enforcement, and magnified all losses by 7.1 times. Based on this figure, the total annual losses from online fraud in the U.S. are approximately $148.2 billion, equivalent to about $1,009 per household.
- Crypto scams have reported losses of $11.37 billion.
- The estimated actual loss is approximately US$80.7 billion.
- The estimated losses from investment fraud are approximately $61.4 billion.
Nearly 40% of the population aged 60 and above suffered losses.
Investment fraud is the largest single category in crypto-related cases. Reported losses in this category amount to $8.6 billion, which translates to approximately $61.4 billion, a 32% increase year-over-year. The report also shows that Americans aged 60 and older lost $4.4 billion in crypto fraud alone, nearly 40% of all reported crypto losses.
The FBI also, for the first time, categorized AI-driven crime separately, recording 22,364 related complaints involving $893 million in losses. While the report didn't include all of this in the crypto scam category, this change indicates that scam methods continue to become increasingly automated.
Law enforcement agencies expand early warning and recovery efforts
At the law enforcement level, the FBI stated that its "Level Up" operation proactively contacts potential targets before victims make payments, and has notified approximately 8,000 victims to date, preventing a total of approximately $500 million in losses, including $225.9 million prevented last year.
U.S. law enforcement agencies have also intensified their crackdown on overseas fraud networks in recent years. A special task force established last year has seized approximately $25 million in funds from fraudulent cryptocurrency investment platforms and online romance scams.
Ministry of Justice advances large-scale confiscation cases
The U.S. Department of Justice previously applied to seize 127,271 bitcoins belonging to Chen Zhi, chairman of the Prince Group, worth approximately $15 billion at the time, alleging that the assets were linked to a forced labor fraud park in Cambodia. This was one of the largest seizures in the history of the U.S. Department of Justice. The Prince Group denied involvement in the fraudulent activities.
