Common crypto scams and how to spot them

How big is the crypto scam problem?

The FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) received 1,008,597 complaints in 2025, with reported losses of $20.877 billion. Complaints involving cryptocurrency accounted for $11.366 billion of that, about 54%, even though they made up only about 18% of complaints. Crypto losses rose 22% on 2024.

Two details stand out in the report. Investment fraud alone made up $7.28 billion of crypto losses, about 64%. And people aged 60 and over reported $4.35 billion in crypto losses, which makes older relatives worth a conversation. These are only reported cases; the FBI's figures count complaints people chose to file.

The Federal Trade Commission, which collects its own reports, recorded $16 billion in fraud losses across all payment methods in 2025, its highest ever.

What are the most common crypto scams?

The names change, but most cases fall into a handful of patterns described by the FBI, the FTC and ethereum.org.

Two of these have their own guides: pig butchering scams, the relationship-driven version of the fake platform, and phishing and address poisoning.

How does a fake investment platform take your money?

According to the IC3 report, contact usually starts through a text, social media, an advert or a dating app, then moves to a private messaging app. The victim is introduced to an "investment group" or a mentor, sends money to a platform or app that looks professional, and watches a balance climb. Some are even offered loans to invest more. The numbers on screen are invented. When the victim tries to withdraw, new taxes and fees appear, and eventually the scammers vanish.

Which warning signs give almost every crypto scam away?

You do not need to memorize every scheme. The FTC boils it down to a few rules: only scammers demand payment in cryptocurrency, only scammers guarantee profits or big returns, and online dating should never mix with investment advice. CISA adds the classic phishing markers: urgent or emotional language, requests for personal or financial details, shortened links and addresses that are one letter off.

1. Who started this? If the contact, the tip or the "problem" came to you unprompted, slow down.

2. What are they asking for? Crypto, a gift card, a seed phrase, remote access or a wallet signature are all high-risk requests.

3. Is there a deadline? Pressure to act within minutes is a tactic, not a feature.

4. Can you verify it independently? Find the company's contact details on its verified website, as CISA suggests, and check its licence with how to check if a platform is registered.

What happens after someone has been scammed?

Crypto payments typically cannot be reversed, the FTC says, and they lack the legal protections of a credit card. Ethereum.org is blunter: no one can reverse a blockchain transaction, and anyone promising to do so is lying.

That gap is exploited by a second wave of fraud. IC3 logged 10,516 complaints and $1.4 billion in losses to recovery schemes in 2025, including fake law firms targeting crypto scam victims. In July 2026 the FBI also warned of criminals impersonating IC3 itself, with deepfake videos and spoofed complaint sites. IC3 says it never contacts individuals directly by phone, email or social media and never charges to recover funds.

If it happens to you or a relative: stop sending money, report it at ReportFraud.ftc.gov and ic3.gov (type the address yourself), tell the exchange you used, and treat any "recovery" offer as a new scam.

What mistakes make people easier targets?

• Trusting a screen balance. Numbers on a platform you cannot withdraw from are not money.
• Paying to get paid. Fees, taxes or "verification deposits" demanded before a withdrawal are the final stage of the scam, not a formality.
• Moving to private chat. Ethereum.org warns that impostors offer "help" in private messages, and advises never communicating outside an organization's designated channels.
• Signing what you do not understand. A wallet signature can hand over spending rights; see token approvals and wallet drainers.
• Staying quiet out of embarrassment. In the FBI's Operation Level Up, 78% of the 3,780 victims it contacted in 2025 did not know they were being scammed. Talking to someone early is a defence.