Interpretation of the "2024 Cryptocurrency Fraud Report" released by the FBI

Author: Lisa

Editor: Sherry

In April 2025, the FBI released the 2024 Cryptocurrency Fraud Report. The report is based on data collected by the FBI Cyber ​​Crime Reporting Center (IC3) in 2024 and analyzes the number of cryptocurrency-related complaints, the scale of losses, victim portraits, crime types and asset recovery progress. This article will interpret the core content of the report to help readers quickly grasp trend changes and improve their awareness and prevention capabilities for complex network security threats.

Key Point 1: Complaint Data for 2024

1. Overall situation

In 2024, IC3 received a total of 859,532 complaints, resulting in actual losses of US$16.6 billion, an increase of 33% over 2023. Of these 256,256 complaints involved actual capital losses, resulting in an average loss of approximately US$19,372 per incident. About 83% of the losses are caused by online fraud.

2. Cryptocurrency-related situations

Cryptocurrency-related complaints amounted to 149,686, causing losses of US$9.3 billion, and the loss amount increased by 66% year-on-year. Among the victims, the group over 60 years old accounts for the highest proportion.

3. Groups over 60 years old

This group filed 147,127 complaints and reported losses of US$4.885 billion. The number of complaints increased by 46% year-on-year, and the amount of losses increased by 43% year-on-year. Of these, 7,500 people reported losses of more than $100,000, with an average loss of up to $83,000.

Key Point 2: Analysis of victim groups

1. Overall age distribution

• Under 20: 17,993 complaints, losses of $22.5 million.
• 20-29 years old: 71,399 complaints, losses of US$540.1 million.
• 30-39 years old: 108,899 complaints, losses of US$1.4 billion.
• 40-49 years old: 112,755 complaints, losses of US$2.2 billion.
• 50-59 years old: 84,540 complaints, loss of $2.5 billion.
• Aged 60 and older: 147,127 complaints, losses of US$4.8 billion.

2. Cryptocurrency victims

Among cryptocurrency investment fraud, groups over the age of 60 have the largest number of complaints (from 8,043), with losses of US$1.6 billion, far exceeding other age groups. Groups over 60 have become the focus of targets for fraudsters due to insufficient awareness of fraud prevention and unfamiliar with new payment methods such as cryptocurrency ATMs (2,674 cases, with a loss of US$107,206,251), and are also the group with the most complaints in extortion/sexual extortion (20,445 cases, with a loss of US$724,288,735).

Key Point Three: Crime Type Analysis

1. Judging from the number of complaints

• Phishing/E-spoofing: From 193,407.
• Ransomware: From 86,415.
• Personal data breach: 64,882.
• Refusal/transaction failure scams: from 49,572.
• Investment fraud: From 47,919.

2. From the perspective of the loss amount

• Investment fraud: $6.57 billion.
• Commercial Mail Scam (BEC): $2.77 billion.
• Technical support scam: $1.46 billion.
• Personal data breach: $1.45 billion.
• Refusal/transaction failure scam: $785 million.

3. Cryptocurrency-related crimes

• The most complaints were: extortion (47,054) and investment fraud (41,557).
• The biggest losses: investment fraud ($5.8 billion), personal data breaches ($1.1 billion).

4. The main types of fraud encountered by people over the age of 60

• The types of fraud with the largest number of complaints: phishing, technical support, ransomware, personal data breach, investment fraud.
• The types of scams that have the most losses: investment scams, technical support, emotional scams, commercial mail scams (BECs), and personal data breaches.

Key Point 4: Online Fraud and Asset Recovery

1. Overall situation of online fraud

In 2024, IC3 received 333,981 online fraud complaints, causing US$13.7 billion in losses, accounting for 83% of the total losses for the whole year. The main transaction methods include cryptocurrency, wire transfer, credit card payment, etc.

2. Typical fraudulent methods

• Call center fraud: 53,369, with a loss of $1.9 billion.
• Emergency fraud (impersonating relatives for help): 357, loss of US$2.7 million.
• Toll road fraud (SMS phishing): From 59,271, loss of $129,000.
• Gold Express Scam: 525, losses of US$219 million.

3. Cyber ​​Threats

263,455 complaints related to cyber threats caused US$1.571 billion in losses. The main ransomware variants include Akira, LockBit, RansomHub, FOG, and PLAY.

4. Asset recovery results

• The FFKC team has processed a total of 3,020 freezing requests, frozen funds of US$560 million, and recovered success rate is 66%.
• Operation Level Up successfully notified 4,323 victims of crypto scams, helping to recover approximately $285 million in potential losses.
• Working with Indian law enforcement agencies to combat call center fraud, arresting 215 people, an increase of 700% year-on-year.
• In financial fraud projects, multiple large amounts of funds were successfully frozen and recovered.

Key Point 5: Prevent cryptocurrency fraud

In response to the high incidence of encryption fraud, the FBI has put forward the following precautions:

• Be vigilant and avoid the temptation of high returns: high-yield and zero-risk investments are often scams.
• Verify the legitimacy of trading platforms: Use formal, regulated exchanges to avoid clicking unknown links in social media ads.
• Avoid transferring money to strangers: Don’t trust the “investment mentors” or “friends” you know online.
• Be alert to cryptocurrency ATM transactions: Scammers often ask victims to make payments through ATMs, so be alert.
• Use two-factor authentication (2FA): Enhance account security and prevent hackers.

Summarize

The 2024 Cryptocurrency Fraud Report released by the FBI reveals new trends in cybercrime in the current crypto asset environment: cryptocurrency-related cases have increased significantly, and the elderly over the age of 60 have become the main victims; fraud methods are highly specialized and internationalized, and cryptocurrencies have become the preferred tool for criminals to launder money and transfer funds.

Although some progress has been made in asset recovery and cross-border law enforcement cooperation, from the perspective of overall loss scale and growth trend, ordinary users still need to remain highly vigilant, effectively improve their awareness of security prevention, and avoid falling into various fraud traps. For governments and financial institutions, continuing to strengthen international collaboration, regulatory enforcement and fund flow tracking will be key measures to curb cybercrime and improve crackdown efficiency.