As Bitcoin pushed to new all‑time highs in the fourth quarter of 2025, the rally drew not only investors but also a surge of crypto‑related crime, the FBI warns in its 2025 Internet Crime Report. U.S. victims reported $11.4 billion in losses tied to cryptocurrency fraud last year — a 22% increase from 2024 — driven by a 21% rise in complaints involving crypto assets.
Key figures
- 181,565 complaints involved crypto assets in 2025.
- The Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) logged 1,008,597 total complaints in 2025, up from 859,532 in 2024.
- Investment schemes were the single largest category of crypto complaints, with 61,559 filings. Extortion accounted for 23,797 complaints and phishing/spoofing for 7,164.
Seniors hit hardest
Older Americans were hit disproportionately. Complainants aged 60 and over reported roughly $7.7 billion in losses — a 37% increase year‑over‑year — underscoring how retirees and senior citizens remain a primary target for fraudsters.
AI makes its debut in the report
For the first time the FBI dedicated a section to AI‑enabled scams. The IC3 received 22,364 complaints tied to AI in 2025, with reported losses nearing $893 million. These schemes frequently rely on high‑pressure tactics amplified by synthetic media: fabricated social profiles, voice cloning, counterfeit identity documents, and deceptively realistic videos of public figures or victims’ relatives to coerce payments.
Crypto ATMs and kiosks
Fraudsters also exploited crypto ATM infrastructure. There were 13,460 complaints linked to crypto ATM use in 2025, resulting in $389 million in losses — a 23% increase in complaints and a 58% jump in dollar losses compared with 2024.
Other fraud types and geography
The IC3 catalogued a broad range of other scams reported in 2025, including tech/customer support fraud, personal data breaches, employment scams, and business email compromise. Complaints clustered in populous states: California led with 20,878 crypto‑related complaints, followed by Texas (13,965), Florida (13,381), New York (8,088), and Pennsylvania (5,118).
FBI response: prevention and operations
The FBI highlighted proactive efforts to reduce harm. Operation Level Up, launched in 2024, identifies people in the process of falling victim to cryptocurrency investment fraud and notifies them: since inception it has alerted more than 8,000 potential victims and helped curtail over $500 million in losses. Building on that model, the FBI launched Operation Winter SHIELD in 2026 to focus on actionable steps organizations can take to strengthen cybersecurity and better defend against these evolving threats.
Takeaway
As crypto markets grow, so do the incentives for fraudsters to innovate. The FBI’s report underscores a widening attack surface — from AI‑generated scams and exploited ATMs to traditional investment fraud — and points to urgent needs for public awareness, stronger safeguards, and industry cooperation.
Featured image from OpenArt; chart from TradingView.com.
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