By Anjali Sharma
NEW YORK – According to US FBI report issued on Tuesday India ranked 5th globally in terms of the number of crypto currency-related complaints, with 840 cases reported.
FBI reported that there has been a significant spike in crypto currency-related frauds, with the US losing over USD 5.6 billion registering a surge of 45 per cent in 2023.
India’s losses amounted to USD 44,054,244, placing it in the top ten countries in terms of total financial impact, the report said.
The token prices began to rally last year, triggered renewed interest from criminals after a crypto market downturn in 2022.
Bitcoin more than doubled last year, and has risen about 35 per cent in 2024.
FBI said in a report “Criminal actors exploit crypto currencies for all schemes, to include tech support, confidence and romance, investment, and government impersonation scams. Investment fraud was the most reported cryptocurrency scheme in 2023 and also saw the most reported losses, with about USD 3.9 billion lost,”.
Use of crypto currency by criminals was most pervasive in investment scams, where losses accounted for almost 71 per cent of the total, according to the report. Call center frauds, such as government impersonation scams, accounted for about 10 per cent of crypto currency losses.
FBI Director Christopher Wray said “Scams targeting investors who use crypto currency are skyrocketing in severity and complexity,”
“The best way to help stop these crimes is for people to report them to ic3.gov, even if they did not suffer a financial loss. The information allows us to stay on top of emerging schemes and criminals’ use of the latest technologies, so we can keep the American public informed and go after those who commit these crimes,” he added.
The report said the losses from cryptocurrency-related investment fraud schemes rose from USD 2.57 billion in 2022 to USD 3.96 billion in 2023, an increase of 53 per cent.
Many individuals have accumulated massive debt to cover losses from these fraudulent investments. While individuals in the age ranges of 30-39 and 40-49 filed the most cryptocurrency-investment fraud complaints 5,200 reports in each age group, complainants over the age of 60 reported the highest losses (over USD1.24 billion).
US received the most complaints, followed by Canada and the United Kingdom.
Scammers employ various tactics, including investment scams, phishing, and government impersonation, FBI stated.
Comments are closed.