Crypto Scam Statistics 2026: The Official Numbers

Americans reported losing $11.37 billion to crypto-related fraud in 2025, in 181,565 complaints to the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3). Losses rose 22% from 2024. The biggest single part was crypto investment fraud, often called pig butchering, at $7.23 billion.

$11.37B

crypto fraud losses reported to the FBI in 2025

181,565

crypto-related complaints to the FBI in 2025

$7.23B

lost to crypto investment fraud (pig butchering)

$4.3B

crypto losses reported by people over 60

Crypto fraud reported to the FBI, 2025

What	Number	Source
All complaints involving crypto	181,565 complaints, $11.366 billion lost	Complaints up 21%, losses up 22% from 2024. IC3 2025 Internet Crime Report
Crypto investment fraud (pig butchering)	61,559 complaints, $7.228 billion lost	Complaints up 48%, losses up 25%. IC3 2025 report
Scams involving AI	22,364 complaints, nearly $893 million	All types, not only crypto. FBI, April 6, 2026
All cyber-enabled crime	1,008,597 complaints, nearly $21 billion	All types. FBI, April 6, 2026

People over 60

What	Number	Source
Older victims of schemes involving crypto	42,000+ victims, $4.3 billion lost	FBI: Scammers target older adult victims
All scams reported by people over 60	201,000+ complaints, $7.7 billion lost	All scam types; up 37%. FBI, April 6, 2026
Average loss per older victim	Over $38,000	All scam types, 2025. FBI

Bitcoin ATMs (crypto kiosks)

What	Number	Source
Complaints about crypto kiosks, 2025	13,460 complaints, about $389 million lost	Complaints up 23%, losses up 58% from 2024. FBI IC3 alert, May 15, 2026
Kiosk losses by people over 50	Over $302 million	More than half of all kiosk complaints. FBI IC3 alert

Impostor and job scams (FTC)

What	Number	Source
Lost to impostor scams, 2025	$3.5 billion	All payment types. FTC, June 2026
Crypto lost to job scams, first half of 2024	About $41 million	vs about $21 million in all of 2023. FTC Data Spotlight, Dec 2024
Task scam reports, first half of 2024	About 20,000	vs about 5,000 in all of 2023 (FTC estimate). FTC Data Spotlight

What banks reported (FinCEN)

What	Number	Source
Suspicious activity tied to crypto investment scams, Sept 2023 to Dec 2025	33,904 reports, about $12.7 billion	Suspicious activity reported by banks and others, not confirmed losses; may include attempts and overlaps. FinCEN, Sept 3, 2026

The biggest US action against a scam network

In October 2025 the Justice Department filed to forfeit about 127,271 bitcoin, then worth about $15 billion, tied to the Prince Group's forced-labor scam compounds in Cambodia. It is a forfeiture complaint, not a final forfeiture. DOJ, Oct 14, 2025

Industry estimates (not government figures)

Chainalysis, a blockchain analysis firm, estimates at least $14 billion in crypto went to scam addresses worldwide in 2025.
Scam Sniffer, a wallet security firm, counted $84 million taken from 106,106 people by wallet drainers in 2025.

How to read these numbers

They are reported losses. Many victims never report, so the real totals are higher.
Years differ. Each row says which year it covers. The FBI's 2025 report came out in April 2026.
Some rows cover all scam types, not only crypto. The source column says so.
Every number was checked against its source document before we published it. See how we check facts. We update this page when new reports come out.

Don't become one of these numbers. Take the 60-second Is this a scam? quiz, or browse every guide in our Scams hub. Lost money? Report it at ic3.gov and ReportFraud.ftc.gov.

Quoting these figures? Please link to this page and to the source report. Questions: news@defimarketjournal.com

Crypto Scam Statistics 2026