A new report from the Federal Bureau of Investigation reveals that cryptocurrency-related fraud losses jumped sharply in 2025, underscoring the growing sophistication of online scams.

According to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3), total losses tied to cryptocurrency reached $11.36 billion in 2025, marking a 22% year-over-year increase and accounting for a major share of the $20.87 billion in total cybercrime losses.

The report highlights that overall cybercrime losses rose 26% compared to 2024, with crypto continuing to dominate as the preferred payment method for scammers. Investment-related fraud alone generated $8.6 billion in losses, the largest category by far.

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The data shows that crypto investment scams are the primary driver behind rising losses. These schemes often involve long-term social engineering tactics, where victims are lured through social media, messaging apps or dating platforms before being directed to fraudulent investment platforms.

The FBI estimates that cryptocurrency investment scams alone accounted for $7.2 billion in losses in 2025, making them the single largest source of financial damage among all cyber-enabled crimes.

These operations are frequently linked to organized crime groups operating in Southeast Asia, where scam centers use forced labor and sophisticated scripts to defraud victims globally.

Cyber-enabled fraud overall represented 85% of all reported losses, totaling $17.7 billion. This category includes not only crypto scams but also business email compromise, tech support fraud and impersonation schemes.

The report paints a clear picture that as crypto adoption grows, so does its misuse. Cryptocurrency was referenced in more than 181,000 complaints in 2025, making it one of the most common elements across cybercrime cases.

Transaction data further shows that crypto is the dominant payment method in fraud cases, particularly in investment scams, where it accounts for the majority of reported transactions.

Despite enforcement efforts such as Operation Level Up, which has saved victims an estimated $500 million since 2024, the scale of fraud continues to outpace mitigation.

The FBI warns that emerging technologies like artificial intelligence are likely to accelerate these trends, enabling more convincing scams and a wider reach.