Crypto-related fraud losses jumped to $11.36 billion in 2025, according to new data from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), marking a 22% increase year over year (YoY). The losses came from more than 181,000 complaints, making crypto one of the biggest drivers of cybercrime damage. The surge highlights how scams are scaling alongside adoption, with increasingly sophisticated tactics targeting users.

Investment scams drive most crypto losses

Data from the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) shows investment scams remain the largest source of crypto-related losses, per the agency’s press release on April 6.

Indeed, these schemes accounted for roughly $7.2 billion in 2025, driven by long-term social engineering tactics that lure victims through social media and dating platforms in a familiar pattern seen in other scams.

Victims are gradually convinced to deposit funds into fraudulent platforms, often believing they are making legitimate investments before withdrawals are blocked.

Behind many of these operations are organized groups, particularly in Southeast Asia, where large-scale scam centers run scripted campaigns targeting users globally.

Crypto-related fraud has now grown to represent a major share of total cybercrime losses, with cyber-enabled fraud reaching $17.7 billion overall, or about 85% of reported financial damage.

Rising adoption brings new risks

As crypto adoption expands, so does its misuse. Cryptocurrency has become a preferred payment method for scammers due to its speed, convenience, global reach, and difficulty to reverse transactions. New technologies are accelerating the problem.

The FBI flagged artificial intelligence (AI) as a growing factor, with nearly $900 million in losses tied to AI-related scams in 2025. Tools like voice cloning and realistic video impersonations are making fraud more convincing and harder to detect.

But efforts to fight back are underway. Initiatives like Operation Level Up have helped prevent roughly $500 million in losses since 2024 by identifying victims early. Still, the scale of fraud continues to outpace enforcement.

All things considered, the gap is widening. Crypto is becoming more integrated into finance, but security awareness and safeguards are struggling to keep up with the speed and sophistication of modern scams.