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FBI reports Americans lost $5.6B to cryptocurrency fraud in 2023
The United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Internet Crime Complaint Center has released its cryptocurrency fraud report for 2023. Americans lost $5.6 billion due to cryptocurrency fraud that year, up 45% from 2022, it said. Crypto-related complaints represented 10% of the total received, but almost 50% of the total lost that year, the FBI said.
The report found that of the 69,000 crypto-related complaints the FBI received in 2023, people over 60 were most often victimized, accounting for almost $1.6 billion of the losses. Almost 71% of the crypto fraud was related to investment schemes, and about 10% involved call center fraud and government impersonation scams.
The FBI received complaints from over 200 countries, but the vast majority of complaints and losses were from the United States. Many of the losses were the result of confidence schemes. The FBI had one main piece of advice to avoid this type of scam:
“There is one thing these scammers typically will not do — they will not meet with you in real life. If an investment opportunity comes from someone who you have never met in person […] be extremely cautious of the advice.”
Crypto becomes US election issue for the first time — Survey
Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin will likely play a role in the coming United States presidential election, as increasing numbers of U.S. crypto investors are concerned about the candidates’ approach to regulating the industry.
The vast majority of crypto owners in the U.S. plan to consider the crypto regulation stance of U.S. presidential candidates in the upcoming election in November, according to a new report by Winklevoss twins-founded crypto exchange Gemini.
Released on Sept. 10, Gemini’s latest “Global State of Crypto” report featured a survey of 6,000 adults representing a random sample of the…
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