Cryptocurrency Fraud in the US: A Staggering $80.7 Billion in Losses for 2025 — The True Scale of Hidden Damages
An analysis of 2025 data from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Consumer Federation of America (CFA) has revealed a catastrophic situation in the realm of cryptocurrency fraud. According to our estimates, based on official reports, the total losses for U.S. citizens from crypto scams have reached an astronomical $80.7 billion.
Through its Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3), the FBI recorded 181,565 complaints directly related to cryptocurrencies in 2025. The reported losses from these incidents amounted to $11.37 billion, a 22% increase compared to 2024. However, this is just the tip of the iceberg.
Hidden Losses: The Underreporting Factor
The CFA applied a correction factor of 7.1 to the IC3 data. The rationale? According to 2017 statistics from the U.S. Bureau of Justice, only about 14% of financial fraud victims report the crime to law enforcement. Thus, the true scale of crypto losses is nearly seven times greater than the official figures. From the total volume of internet crimes (1,008,597 complaints, reported losses of $20.88 billion), the CFA estimated total American losses at $148.2 billion, or $1,009 per household.
Investment Fraud — The Primary Threat
The largest category of crypto crimes remains investment fraud. According to IC3 data, reported losses for this category were approximately $8.6 billion. After applying the 7.1 factor, the real figure soars to $61.4 billion. People over 60 are particularly vulnerable: they filed 44,555 complaints involving cryptocurrencies, losing a reported $4.43 billion — nearly 39% of all documented crypto losses. The average loss per complaint in this age group was $38,500.
AI in the Service of Malefactors
In 2025, the FBI for the first time highlighted crimes involving artificial intelligence — 22,364 complaints and $893.3 million in reported losses. The CFA recalculated this figure to $6.3 billion. Scammers actively use AI to create fake social media profiles, clone voices, forge documents, and produce deepfakes featuring public figures or victims' loved ones. This makes attacks personalized and highly convincing.
FBI Operations: Successes Amidst the Crisis
Against this grim backdrop, law enforcement efforts are worth noting. The FBI's Operation Level Up initiative, launched in early 2024, helped warn over 8,000 potential victims and prevent more than $500 million in losses. In 2025 alone, it reached 3,780 people and prevented $225.9 million. Earlier, in May, the international Operation Blackout seized over 127,000 BTC (approximately $8 billion), marking one of the largest seizures in history.
Expert Commentary from Cryptalist: The CFA figures, while extrapolations, reflect a harsh reality: the crypto industry continues to be a battlefield where investors lose billions, and regulators and law enforcement are merely trying to catch a runaway train. The key takeaway for the market is that without a radical increase in financial literacy and the implementation of preventive measures at the protocol level, we risk seeing figures of $100 billion in the coming years.