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[SITUATION] · [ACTIVE]

2 clusters · 5 sources · 6 days · First seen 6 days ago · Last updated about 13 hours ago

Categories: CRIME

Global crypto scam losses

Entities: Consumer Federation of America · Federal Bureau of Investigation · U.S. Department of Justice · Secret Service

Overview

Crypto‑facilitated fraud continues to generate massive financial damage worldwide. In the United States, a 2023 analysis by the Consumer Federation of America estimated that online scams cost Americans roughly $148 billion, with cryptocurrency accounting for more than half of that figure. Law‑enforcement seizures of illicit crypto tied to romance and investment fraud have recovered hundreds of millions of dollars, underscoring an ongoing federal crackdown.

Across the Asia‑Pacific, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime reported that transnational scam networks siphoned between $88 billion and $114 billion from victims in 2025. These syndicates have evolved into franchised, multinational operations that blend money‑laundering, fraud, human‑trafficking and data‑theft, often using AI‑driven translation tools to target victims in multiple languages. Core hubs in Cambodia and Myanmar support “pig‑butchering” romance and crypto‑investment scams, with China, South Korea and Taiwan among the hardest‑hit economies.

Together, the snapshots illustrate a widening, highly organized global crypto‑scam ecosystem that is extracting sums that rival or exceed the GDPs of several nations, prompting coordinated enforcement actions in both the United States and the broader Asia‑Pacific region.

Claims

What the coverage asserts, and how well corroborated each claim is across sources.

[● 2 SOURCES] The Consumer Federation of America estimates total online scam losses in the United States for 2023 at $148.2 billion. (CFA)
[● 2 SOURCES] The FBI reported $20.9 billion in total scam losses for 2023. (FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center)
[● 2 SOURCES] Crypto‑related scams accounted for $11.37 billion in reported losses in 2023. (FBI)
[● 2 SOURCES] The CFA estimates true crypto‑scam losses at $80.7 billion. (Consumer Federation of America)
[● 2 SOURCES] Investment fraud reported $8.6 billion in losses; the CFA estimates the true amount at $61.4 billion. (FBI and CFA)
[○ 1 SOURCE] Americans over age 60 lost $4.4 billion to crypto fraud in 2023. (CFA)
[○ 1 SOURCE] U.S. Department of Justice and Secret Service seized over $25 million in cryptocurrency linked to romance and investment fraud. (U.S. DOJ)
[○ 1 SOURCE] The DOJ’s Scam Center Strike Force has recovered more than $800 million since November 2022. (Department of Justice)

Timeline

about 13 hours ago

[CRIME] 4 sources
US crypto scams cost nearly $150 billion in 2023, CFA says
The Consumer Federation of America estimates US online scams caused about $148 billion in losses in 2023—seven times the FBI’s $20.9 billion report—with crypto scams alone at $80.7 billion; federal authorities,
6 days ago

[CRIME] 2 sources
UN reports $114 billion crypto scams in Asia Pacific in 2025
UNODC says Southeast Asian scam networks stole up to $114 bn in 2025, mainly via crypto, acting as franchised transnational operations that outstrip regional GDPs.

Sources

9to5mac.com · cryptopolitan.com · en.coin-turk.com · livecoins.com.br · theedadvocate.org