Major Americans hit a lot for cryptography scams, the IC3 of the FBI informs the losses of $ 2.8 billion

In its 2024 annual report, the FBI Internet Crimes Complaints Center (IC3) revealed a strong increase in the number and severity of fraud cases related to cryptocurrencies.

In the course of the year, IC3 registered more than 140,000 complaints linked to cryptocurrency, which led to amazing financial losses of $ 9.3 billion.

Alarming trend

A significant part of these losses came from people 60 years or older, who presented approximately 33,000 complaints and suffered a combined total of $ 2.8 billion in losses. This age group also saw the greatest increase in complaints reported as in financial damage.

The IC3 report He also pointed out a dramatic increase in losses year after year, 66% higher than in 2023, when total losses amounted to $ 5.6 billion. The investment scams that involve cryptocurrencies were the main source of these losses, but the report also highlighted other schemes such as Sextortion, where criminals manipulate personal content to force victims to send money and fraud involving ATMs.

In addition, ransomware attacks, which had been a recurring problem, showed a 9% increase in 2024, which represents a growing threat to critical infrastructure. In general, fraud and cryptography scams were the most significant taxpayers to the increase in reported cyber crimes, with major individuals particularly vulnerable to these high -risk digital fraud schemes.

On the other hand, pork carnage scams, which were once attacked mainly in older adults, are now increasingly affecting younger people, particularly those aged 30 to 49. A recent study by the Cyvers examined 150 main cryptographic platforms, revealing more than 200,000 scam incidents and $ 5.5 billion in losses in 2024.

The investigation focused on Ethereum -based scams and discovered significant fraud on several platforms, including important exchanges, a friendly bank with cryptocurrencies and institutional trade platforms. The impact scale varied, but the trend is clear: younger people are becoming the premiums victims.

Operation level above

The ‘UP operation level’ thus began with the assistance of FBI agents and the United States Secret Service to address the growing problem of cryptocurrency investment fraud. Pig Butchering implies that scammers build online relationships with victims and convince them to invest in a fraudulent cryptocurrency platform.

As a result of this operation, a total of 4,323 people affected by cryptocurrency investment fraud of the scam was reported. Of these victims, 76% did not know that they had been victims of fraud. The estimated financial savings for these victims amounted to $ 285.6 million. In addition, 42 victims were referred to a FBI victims specialist for support with respect to possible suicidal thoughts.