I just read the latest crime report from the FBI about internet crimes in 2025, and honestly there are some things that are concerning for our crypto ecosystem. They recorded over 1 million complaints with total losses reaching $20.8 billion—an insane number.

What’s most worrying? Cryptocurrency remains the main channel for scams. Total complaints related to crypto reached 181,565 cases with losses of $11.36 billion. That means more than half of the total losses come from our sector. And from this crime report, it turns out 18,589 investors single-handedly lost more than $100,000 each.

But there’s one pattern that really caught my attention: seniors are the main targets. The 60+ age group reported 201,266 cases with losses around $7.75 billion. They are also the most frequently victims of crypto ATM scams and investment fraud. Why? They are less familiar with new fintech technologies, QR code transfers, and all modern payment mechanisms. As a result, they repeatedly become targets—even some are scammed twice because they trust “recovery scam” services promising to return funds. From this crime report, this age group alone experienced $5.4 billion in losses from recovery scams.

There’s also another aspect that’s a game-changer: AI. The report shows over 22,000 complaints related to AI-driven crimes with losses of more than $893 million. That’s not a small number. Scammers now use AI to generate personalized emails that mimic executives, clone voices for phishing, and even create deepfake videos that appear supported by celebrities or authorities. Investment fraud alone powered by AI has already caused $632 million in losses.

From an enforcement perspective, FBI RAT successfully intercepted 3,900 cases and froze $679 million in funds. There’s also the Level Up operation that warned more than 8,000 victims and saved potential losses of more than $500 million. But honestly, that’s still far from the total scale of losses.

What makes me concerned is this trend. The 2025 crime report shows that cybercrime has evolved from opportunistic to organized, systematic operations. Ransomware variants like Akira, Qilin, BianLian, Lockbit are now sophisticated tools. They’re no longer random—these are industry-level threats.

For us in the crypto community, the lessons are clear: (1) Seniors and non-tech-savvy users need extra protection and education; (2) AI-powered threats will continue to evolve, so security practices must be stricter; (3) Recovery scams are a massive secondary threat—don’t trust promises to recover lost funds; (4) Multi-factor authentication, strong backups, and network segmentation are no longer optional.

Our crypto industry remains a primary target, but what’s important is that we stay informed about these evolving threats. Reports like this are valuable for understanding the landscape and adjusting defense strategies accordingly.