Cryptocurrency Crime Rise

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The FBI reports a 45% rise in cryptocurrency-related crime in 2023, with US residents losing over $5.6 billion. Investment fraud, largely involving Bitcoin and Ether, accounted for $3.9 billion of these losses.

United Kingdom Criminal Law

Syed Rahman of Rahman Ravelli considers the FBI's report of increased crypto-related wrongdoing.

A 45%rise in cryptocurrency crime in a year has been reported by the FBI.

The agency has stated that US residents lost more than $5.6 billion in 2023 to crypto-related crime, which represents a huge increase on the previous year.

The FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) received nearly 70,000 complaints related to cyber-enabled financial fraud involving popular cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ether. Investment fraud accounted for about $3.9 billion of the reported losses.

FBI Director Christopher Wray said that criminal schemes targeting investors that use cryptocurrency are "skyrocketing in severity and complexity". He urged people to report suspicious activities to IC3- even if they have not suffered a financial loss– so that emerging threats can be tracked.

In 2022, the FBI created the Virtual Assets Unit (VAU), which centralised cryptocurrency expertise and provides advanced training in blockchain analysis and virtual asset seizure. It plays a critical role in coordinating investigations and promoting collaboration among federal, state and international law enforcement agencies.

This increase in reported investment scams falls in line with the rise in the crypto market generally. Last year saw Bitcoin (and the market in general) recover from the catastrophic 2022 fall, with Bitcoin hitting all-time high value in early 2024. It is no surprise, therefore, that people may well have become more susceptible to bad actors claiming to be offering them the chance to make big gains.

Wray's words should be taken with the upmost seriousness. As crypto becomes more widely adopted by the general public and by more established financial investors, the types of fraud being perpetrated are becoming increasingly complex. Not only does this make it harder to stop at the consumer level, the tracing and recovering of assets taken in such frauds also becomes more difficult.

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