More Than Half of All Money Lost to Online Fraud in America Now Involves Crypto

The FBI's 2025 Internet Crime Report recorded $20.9 billion in losses, of which $11.37 billion involved cryptocurrency — up 22%. Crypto investment fraud alone cost $7.2 billion, and people over 60 lost $4.4 billion.

Cryptocurrency is now the dominant payment channel in reported online fraud. Photo: Satheesh Sankaran, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)

By the UISC BD Editorial Desk · United Information Service Center · Published 13 September 2026 · 6-minute read

The FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) publishes the largest official record of online fraud reported by the public. Its 2025 report makes one trend impossible to miss.

The Headline Numbers

$20.877 billion in total reported losses across all internet crime.
$11.366 billion of that described as cryptocurrency-related — more than half.
A 22 percent increase in crypto-related losses on the previous year.
181,565 crypto-related complaints, out of roughly 1 million in total.

These are only reported losses. Many victims never file a complaint, so the true figure is higher.

Investment Fraud Is the Biggest Category

Cryptocurrency investment fraud was the single largest source of financial loss to Americans in 2025, at $7.2 billion.

That category is dominated by long-con schemes in which the victim is groomed over weeks, then persuaded to "invest" on a fake platform that displays invented profits — explained in our guide to pig butchering scams.

Older People Lost the Most

Americans aged 60 and over filed 44,555 crypto-related complaints and reported $4.432 billion in crypto losses — more than any other age group.

Older adults are targeted deliberately: they are more likely to have savings, retirement funds and home equity, and less likely to be familiar with how crypto transactions work or how hard they are to reverse.

Why Crypto Suits Fraudsters

Irreversibility. A bank transfer can sometimes be recalled. A crypto transaction, once confirmed, generally cannot.

Speed across borders. Funds can move internationally in minutes, often beyond the reach of the victim's local police.

Unfamiliarity. Victims who do not understand wallets and exchanges are easier to direct to fake platforms.

Legitimacy by association. Real crypto markets, regulated Bitcoin ETFs and genuine price rallies give fake "opportunities" a believable backdrop.

AI Is Now Its Own Category

2025 was also the first year the FBI logged a dedicated AI-related crime category, with more than 22,000 complaints and roughly $893 million in losses. Voice cloning and deepfake video are increasingly part of investment scams — see our report on deepfake fraud.

What Is Working

The FBI's Operation Level Up, which targets crypto investment scams, has notified more than 8,000 victims — many of whom did not yet realise they were being defrauded — and helped prevent more than $500 million in losses, including $225.9 million in 2025 alone.

Early intervention matters because the largest losses come from victims who keep sending money after the first deposit.

If It Is Happening to You or Someone You Know

Stop sending money immediately, including any "fee" or "tax" demanded to release funds.
Keep everything — wallet addresses, transaction IDs, messages and website links.
Report it to the police and, in the US, to IC3.
Beware of "recovery" services that promise to get the money back for an upfront fee. They are frequently a second scam aimed at the same victim.

Sources

"2025 IC3 annual report," FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center — ic3.gov
"FBI report finds crypto scams accounted for over $11B in losses in 2025," Fox Business — foxbusiness.com
"FBI IC3 report: half of 2025 US fraud losses were linked to cryptocurrency scams," ASIS Security Management — asisonline.org
"IC3 report reveals surge in cryptocurrency investment scams," Forbes — forbes.com
"Deepfake statistics 2026," StationX — stationx.net

cryptocurrency fraud statistics (1)

FBI: $11.4 Billion Lost to Crypto Scams in 2025, Over Half of All Fraud