FBI Cybercrime Survey Report Finds Americans Over 60 Are Most Vulnerable to Cryptocurrency Scams

FBI released the 2024 Internet Crime Investigation Report, which was compiled by the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) under the FBI. In 2024, IC3 received a total of 149,686 complaints related to cryptocurrency, with an estimated total loss of $9.3 billion, an increase of 66% from the previous year. The regions with the highest number of complaints were California, Texas, and Florida (the author notes that these are also the most crypto-friendly states), with New York ranking fourth.

Among the cryptocurrency-related fraud complaints to the FBI, the age group over 60 had the highest number of cases, with 33,369 complaints, while those under 20 had the lowest at 1,819. The report suggests that cryptocurrency seems to be easily used as an investment tool by Americans over 60, who are also more susceptible to fraud, while younger individuals are less likely to be scammed. Detailed report can be found on IC3.

Americans Over 60 Most Vulnerable to Cryptocurrency Scams

The report found that Americans over 60 are most likely to suffer financial losses in cryptocurrency-related fraud. Among the 33,369 complaints, those over 60 lost a total of $2.84 billion, followed by the 40-49 age group with total losses of $1.46 billion.

Among the cryptocurrency fraud complaints from Americans over 60, the top three crime types were "phishing" (193,407 cases), "extortion" (86,415 cases), and "personal information leakage" (64,882 cases).

In terms of actual loss amounts, the methods causing the highest losses were investment fraud ($1,834,242,515), technical fraud ($982,440,006), and romance scams ($389,312,356).

FBI Warns Web 3 Companies to Be Cautious of North Korean Hackers

FBI Director Kash Patel stated at a press conference on Wednesday that IC3 is celebrating its 25th anniversary, and its success depends on research and investigation reports, and the public should promptly report suspicious cybercrime activities to the FBI.

Cryptocurrency fraud is increasing, and older people who are unfamiliar with technology are easy targets for scammers. However, employees in the cryptocurrency industry have also become targets for North Korean hackers to infiltrate.

The FBI warned the American public in 2024 to avoid becoming targets of cryptocurrency-related fraud, with Web 3 company employees being at the forefront. The FBI stated that North Korean cyberhackers are actively targeting Web 3 employees, attempting to steal funds and using complex social engineering techniques to illegally obtain personal information to access Web 3 company funds.

According to a previous report by The Block, the FBI warned Americans in April last year not to use unauthorized cryptocurrency transfer services and urged people to use official tools to inquire before using cryptocurrency-related services to avoid potential cryptocurrency fraud.