Americans lost $5.6 billion last year in cryptocurrency fraud scams, the FBI says

WASHINGTON (AP) — The FBI says Americans were duped out of more than $5.6 billion last year through fraud schemes involving cryptocurrency. The report released Monday shows a 45 percent jump in losses from 2022. The FBI received nearly 70,000 complaints in 2023 by victims of fraud involving bitcoin, ether and other cryptocurrencies, according to the report. The most common scam was investment fraud, which accounted for more than $3.9 billion of the losses. FBI officials say Americans of all ages can be a target of such scams, and should be extremely cautious when presented with investment opportunities from people they’ve never met in real life.