The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has reported an increase in losses due to investment scams related to cryptocurrencies.
according to The FBI's latest reportCryptocurrency-related investment losses rose from $2.57 billion in 2022 to nearly $3.94 billion in 2023, representing a staggering 53% increase.
These losses constituted the largest portion of investment fraud operations within the country, as they constituted about 86% of the total investment fraud losses, which amounted to $4.57 billion for this year.
The FBI has highlighted the alarming trend of victims falling prey to cryptocurrency scams, due to the promise of significant returns on their investments.
The FBI stressed that “these scams are designed to lure targets with the promise of lucrative returns on their investments.”
Romance scams continue to victimize victims
One of the most common types of cryptocurrency scams targeting individuals are romance scams.
In this scheme, criminals adopt fake identities online and establish trust with victims before convincing them to send cryptocurrencies, which then disappear.
Chainalogy, a blockchain analysis company, reported that only romance scams were Responsible for at least $374 million In suspected stolen cryptocurrencies in 2023.
Phishing scams have also posed a significant threat to cryptocurrency users, with more than 324,000 individuals falling victim to such scams in 2023, resulting in the loss of approximately $295 million in digital assets.
These scams typically involve tricking users into revealing their wallet credentials, allowing scammers to drain their funds.
It is important to note that the rise in the number of victims of cryptocurrency scams is not limited to the United States alone.
Countries around the world are grappling with similar issues.
In April 2023, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission revealed that Australians lost A$221.3 million ($146.9 million) to investment scams involving cryptocurrencies as a means of payment in 2022, reflecting a staggering 162.4% increase compared to 2021.
The significant rise in crypto investment scams highlights the need for greater awareness and caution among investors and cryptocurrency enthusiasts.
Exploits are still widespread in Web3
Last month, the first layer blockchain token was released Shido decreased by 85%. After the Ethereum-based project's staking contract fell victim to an exploit.
The vulnerability targeting Shido came just one day after Serenity Shield, a multi-chain data storage startup, Become a victim To the theft he was exposed to Meta Mask wallet.
The hack, which occurred on one of BSC's Serenity wallets, allowed the perpetrators to steal approximately 6.9 million native SESH tokens worth $5.6 million at the time of the hack.
This vulnerability affected the price of the original token, causing the value of SERSH to drop from $0.565 to $0.009, representing a drop of approximately 99%.
As reported, bad actors They stole $38.9 million From various Web3 projects in the first month of 2024.
One of the first major cryptocurrency hacks of the year occurred when Radiant Capital suffered a $4.5 million loss due to exploiting the empty market.
Gamma Strategies, another affected platform, fell victim to a flash loan attack on January 4, shortly after the Radiant Capital incident.
the The attack exploited a software bugThis enabled the hackers to withdraw $6.1 million from Gamma's public-facing vaults.
