Crypto scams reach record levels with 17 billion stolen in 2025

The figure is expected to rise further as investigators identify additional illicit wallets, marking the worst year on record for crypto-related crime.

The sharp increase was driven largely by impersonation scams, which grew more than fourteenfold compared with the previous year. Criminals posing as government agencies, law enforcement, or trusted companies persuaded victims to transfer funds under false pretenses. Average payments to scammers more than tripled.

One of the most widespread campaigns mimicked U.S. toll collection services, flooding millions of phones with fraudulent messages and directing victims to convincing fake websites. Similar tactics were used in private sector scams, including a major case in which criminals impersonated cryptocurrency exchange customer support to steal nearly 16 million dollars from users.

AI is rapidly transforming how scams operate. Chainalysis found that schemes linked to AI tools such as deepfake software and automated messaging systems generated more than 4 times as much revenue as traditional scams. These operations moved faster, reached more victims simultaneously, and extracted higher daily amounts.

Behind many schemes is a service based underground economy. Specialized groups sell phishing kits, stolen data, bulk messaging services, and money laundering support, allowing even low skill criminals to run sophisticated operations at scale.

Investigators identified strong ties between crypto scams and organized crime networks in East and Southeast Asia. Many large operations are linked to scam compounds in countries such as Cambodia and Myanmar, where trafficked workers are forced to run online fraud schemes. Laundering networks in the region play a central role in moving and converting stolen crypto into cash, property, and luxury goods.

Authorities recorded major breakthroughs in 2025. In the United Kingdom, police seized more than 61,000 bitcoin in the largest confirmed crypto recovery to date. In the United States, prosecutors targeted a transnational criminal group accused of running forced labor scam compounds, seizing and freezing assets worth more than fifteen billion dollars.

Chainalysis warns that as AI tools become cheaper and more accessible, nearly all major scams are likely to adopt them. While recent seizures demonstrate progress, the industrialization of crypto fraud suggests that without stronger prevention, international cooperation, and victim protection, losses will continue to climb in the years ahead.

Earlier, Qazinform News Agency reported that the U.S. Department of Justice charged Chen Zhi, the founder and chairman of Cambodia’s Prince Holding Group, with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering.