Crypto Scams: How to Spot Them, What They Cost Americans, and What to Do If You Were Hit

Crypto is now the payment method behind most of the money Americans lose to online fraud. The FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) received 181,565 complaints involving cryptocurrency in 2025, with reported losses of $11.4 billion. That is more than half of all the losses reported to IC3 that year. This page explains the scams that cause most of that damage, how to recognize them early, and what to do if you have already sent money.

The Short Answer

• The biggest crypto scam is a fake investment platform. A stranger you met by text, social media or a dating app shows you "profits" on a website or app that the scammer controls. When you try to withdraw, you are asked for taxes or fees, and the money never comes back.
• Nobody legitimate asks you to pay in crypto to fix a bank problem, settle a debt, pay a government fine or protect your account.
• Never share a seed phrase or private key. Anyone who has it has your coins.
• If you were scammed: stop sending money, save every record, report to the FBI at ic3.gov and the FTC, and tell the exchange you sent the money from.
• Anyone who contacts you offering to get your crypto back for a fee is almost always running a second scam.

How Much Americans Lose to Crypto Scams

FBI IC3, 2025	Complaints	Reported losses
All complaints involving crypto	181,565 (up 21% from 2024)	$11.37 billion (up 22%)
Crypto investment fraud	61,559 (up 48%)	$7.23 billion (up 25%)
Crypto ATMs and kiosks	13,460 (up 23%)	$389 million (up 58%)
Recovery scams (all payment types)	10,516	$1.4 billion
Every IC3 complaint, any payment type	1,008,597	$20.88 billion

• The average crypto-related loss was $62,604, and 18,589 people reported losing more than $100,000.
• People 60 and older reported $4.4 billion of the crypto losses, more than any other age group. They also accounted for $257 million of the $389 million lost through crypto ATMs.
• The FBI calls crypto investment fraud "the highest source of financial losses to Americans in 2025."
• The FTC's separate count points the same way: consumers reported $15.9 billion in fraud losses in 2025, investment scams were the largest category at over $7.9 billion, and crypto was the second-largest payment method by losses after bank payments.

How the Fake Investment Platform Scam Works

The FBI describes these as long-running scams, mostly run by organized groups based in Southeast Asia. The pattern is consistent:

1. First contact looks accidental or friendly: a "wrong number" text, a social media message, a dating match or an ad. The conversation moves quickly to a messaging app such as WhatsApp or Telegram.
2. Trust is built over weeks. The contact talks about their life, then mentions how well they are doing trading crypto or gold, sometimes with an "expert" group or mentor.
3. You are steered to a platform. It looks like a real exchange or trading app, but the scammers run it. A small first deposit shows a fast gain, and you may even be allowed one small withdrawal so it feels real.
4. The pressure grows. Bigger deposits, a "limited-time" opportunity, sometimes an offered loan to invest more.
5. The withdrawal never comes. When you try to cash out, you are told to pay a tax, fee or "release" charge first. Paying it only leads to another charge.

The FBI's Operation Level Up contacted 3,780 victims of this scam in 2025, and 78% of them did not know they were being scammed.

Other Common Crypto Scams

• Crypto ATM payment demands. A caller posing as your bank, a tech-support agent or a government official tells you to withdraw cash and feed it into a crypto ATM, often with a QR code they send you. No real bank or agency does this.
• Tech-support and account-lock scams. A pop-up or call says your computer or account is compromised and your money must be moved to a "safe" wallet.
• Fake wallet apps and phishing sites. Look-alike apps and websites ask for your seed phrase or have you connect a wallet and approve a transaction that drains it.
• Giveaway and impersonation scams. "Send 1 coin, get 2 back" posts that use a celebrity's or company's name.
• Romance scams that end with a request for crypto for an emergency or a trip.
• Pump-and-dump tokens: a little-known coin promoted hard online so insiders can sell to the buyers they attract.
• Job scams that pay you in crypto for simple "tasks", then ask you to deposit your own money before you can withdraw earnings. See our guide to work-from-home job scams.

Warning Signs

• Someone you have never met in person suggests an investment, a trading app or a website.
• Guaranteed or very steady high returns.
• You are asked to pay with crypto, gift cards or a wire, or to use a crypto ATM.
• Fees or "taxes" must be paid before you can withdraw your own money.
• You are told to keep it secret from your bank or family, or to lie to the bank about why you are withdrawing cash.
• The platform is not one you can find in the official app stores or verify independently, or its address differs slightly from a known exchange.
• Anyone asks for your seed phrase, private key or a screen-share of your wallet.

How to Protect Yourself

1. Use a known U.S. exchange or broker you reach by typing the address yourself, not a link from a message.
2. Keep the seed phrase offline and never type it into a website or give it to anyone, including "support".
3. Turn on app-based two-factor authentication and an account withdrawal allow-list if your exchange offers one.
4. Check before you invest: search the platform's name with "scam", and look up investment professionals on FINRA BrokerCheck or the SEC's investor.gov search.
5. Talk to someone you trust before sending a large sum. Scammers work hard to keep victims isolated.
6. Help older relatives set up these safeguards; they report the largest losses.

If You Were Scammed: What to Do Now

1. Stop sending money, whatever fee or tax you are told will release your funds.
2. Save everything: wallet addresses, transaction IDs (hashes), dates, amounts, screenshots of the platform and all messages.
3. Report to the FBI at ic3.gov and to the FTC at reportfraud.ftc.gov. If it involved an investment offer, you can also send a tip to the SEC or the CFTC.
4. Contact the exchange you sent the crypto from and your bank, right away. Funds still sitting at a regulated exchange can sometimes be frozen.
5. Secure your accounts: change passwords, move any remaining coins to a new wallet, and assume a shared seed phrase is compromised.
6. Watch for follow-up contact from anyone claiming they can recover the money.

Recovery Scams: The Second Hit

After a loss, victims are often contacted by "recovery firms", fake law firms or people posing as the FBI or IC3, offering to trace and return the money for an up-front fee. The FBI counted 10,516 recovery-scam complaints and $1.4 billion in losses in 2025, including losses from the scams that led victims to these services. Government agencies do not charge you to investigate a crime or return funds. Treat any such offer as a scam.

For tax purposes, theft losses from investment scams are a complex area; talk to a tax professional rather than relying on a general rule. Our crypto tax guide covers the basics of reporting.

FAQ

Can stolen crypto be recovered?
Sometimes, when funds are traced to a regulated exchange quickly enough to be frozen, which is why fast reporting matters. Often it cannot. Be very wary of anyone who promises recovery for a fee.

How do I know if a crypto platform is fake?
If you found it through a stranger's message, it is not in the official app stores, or it asks for fees before you can withdraw, treat it as fake. Check the operator's name with regulators and search for complaints.

Are crypto ATMs safe?
The machines themselves are legal, but they are a favorite tool of scammers because payments are fast and hard to reverse. If anyone tells you to put cash into a crypto ATM, stop and call your bank using the number on your card.

Where do I report a crypto scam?
The FBI's IC3 at ic3.gov and the FTC at reportfraud.ftc.gov. Also tell the exchange and your bank.

Who loses the most to crypto scams?
In the FBI's 2025 data, people 60 and older reported the largest crypto losses, $4.4 billion.

Sources

• FBI, 2025 IC3 Internet Crime Report
• FTC, testimony to the Joint Economic Committee on the rising scam economy (March 2026)
• FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center (report a scam)
• FTC, ReportFraud

This article is general information, not legal, tax or investment advice. Figures are from the FBI and FTC reports listed above, checked on 2026-10-23; they reflect reported losses only.