FBI warns of billions in losses from cryptocurrency scams in 2025

A new FBI report reveals that Americans lost more than $20 billion to online scams during 2025, a 26% increase over the previous year. Of that figure, more than $11.4 billion is linked specifically to cryptocurrency scams, cementing them as the leading driver of economic losses in digital crime.

Rise of digital fraud and technological sophistication

The annual Internet Crime Report, produced by the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3), shows a sustained growth in digital scams, driven by the use of emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence. These tools allow criminals to create fake profiles, clone voices, forge documents and even produce convincing videos, making it difficult to distinguish between real and fraudulent content.

During 2025, the IC3 received more than 1 million complaints, up from 859,532 recorded in 2024. The most common include phishing, extortion and investment scams.

Cryptocurrencies: The epicenter of losses

The cryptocurrency-related scams concentrated the largest economic losses. In total, more than 81,000 complaints were recorded in this area, with an average loss per victim of $62,604. In addition, more than 18,500 cases exceeded $100,000 in individual losses.

Within this category, cryptocurrency investment scams stand out as the most damaging, accumulating approximately $7.2 billion. These operations tend to be long-term in nature and combine psychological manipulation, appearance of legitimacy and constant pressure for victims to invest large sums of money.

According to the report, many of these fraudulent networks operate from Southeast Asia and, in some cases, use human trafficking victims as forced labor.

New tactics: Pressure, deception and fraudulent "recovery"

Criminals often lure their victims through highly profitable investment promises. They initially show fictitious profits to generate confidence, but then demand more money under various pretexts, such as taxes or false commissions. When victims try to withdraw their funds, they discover that the money is inaccessible.

In many cases, victims are again targeted through recovery scams, where the same or other scammers promise to recover the lost money in exchange for new payments, compounding the financial and emotional damage.

Artificial intelligence, a new front

For the first time in its nearly 25 years, the IC3 report includes a specific section on artificial intelligence. In 2025, these scams generated 22,364 complaints and losses close to $893 million. Fraudsters use this technology to increase the credibility of their scams and put more pressure on victims.

The FBI has implemented initiatives such as Operation Level Up, which has already identified more than 8,000 victims and reduced losses by more than $500 million. In 2026, it also launched Operation Winter SHIELD, aimed at strengthening digital security in organizations.