“The FBI on September 9 released its Cryptocurrency Fraud Report for 2023. In 2023, the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center received more than 69,000 complaints from the public regarding cyber-enabled crime and financial fraud involving the use of cryptocurrency, with over $5.6 billion in reported losses. Criminal actors exploit cryptocurrencies for all schemes, to include tech support, confidence and romance, investment, and government impersonation scams. Investment fraud was the most reported cryptocurrency scheme in 2023 and also saw the most reported losses, with about $3.9 billion lost. “Scams targeting investors who use cryptocurrency are skyrocketing in severity and complexity,” said FBI Director Christopher Wray. “The best way to help stop these crimes is for people to report them to ic3.gov, even if they did not suffer a financial loss. The information allows us to stay on top of emerging schemes and criminals’ use of the latest technologies, so we can keep the American public informed and go after those who commit these crimes.” In 2022, the FBI formed the Virtual Assets Unit (VAU), a specialized team dedicated to investigating cryptocurrency-related crimes. The VAU centralizes the FBI’s cryptocurrency expertise, providing technological equipment, blockchain analysis, virtual asset seizure training, and other sophisticated training for FBI personnel. The FBI, along with the Department of Justice’s National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team and other partners, works hard to investigate and prosecute those who abuse cryptocurrency to defraud the American people. The FBI encourages the public to submit complaints through ic3.gov, even if a financial loss did not occur…”