Key Takeaways
- Americans lost $9.3 billion to Bitcoin scams in 2024, nearly double the prior year.
- Older adults lost $2.8 billion, with an average loss of $83,000 per victim.
- The FBI's Operation Level Up has helped prevent or recover $285 million.
The FBI’s latest annual report reveals a sharp rise in Bitcoin-related fraud, with U.S. victims losing $9.3 billion in 2024 — a 66% increase from the previous year.
Total cybercrime losses reached $16.6 billion across more than 859,000 complaints filed to the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3).
Elderly Americans hit hardest
Of particular concern is the impact on older Americans. Victims aged 60 and above reported 33,369 Bitcoin-related fraud cases, amounting to more than $2.8 billion in losses.
The average loss per senior victim was $83,000 — more than four times higher than the average across all cybercrime.
FBI’s response to growing threat
B. Chad Yarbrough, operations director of the FBI’s Criminal and Cyber Division, said in a statement:
Cryptocurrencies have become a central element in modern digital deception. We worked proactively to prevent losses and minimize victim harm.
Most common scam types
Investment scams were the biggest contributor to Bitcoin losses, totaling $5.8 billion.
Many of these involved “pig butchering” tactics, where fraudsters build fake romantic relationships before convincing victims to invest in fraudulent Bitcoin platforms.
Another $247 million was lost through scams involving Bitcoin ATMs and QR codes, often used by criminals posing as government agents or tech support.
Operation Level Up results
To counter the surge, the FBI launched Operation Level Up, a campaign focused on disrupting Bitcoin fraud networks and assisting victims.
The operation has helped recover or prevent $285 million in losses so far.
