Just now, I reviewed the new FBI report on cybercrime for 2025, and honestly, there’s a lot of interesting information that everyone working with crypto should know.

Overall, the picture is quite alarming. Over a million complaints were collected in a year — more than 1 million reports of various crimes. Total losses exceeded $20 billion, which is 26% more than the previous year. Among all these crimes, internet fraud accounted for 85% of the losses.

But what really stands out is cryptocurrencies. There were 181,000 complaints related to crypto, with losses totaling $11.4 billion. That’s a 22% year-over-year increase. Nearly 19,000 investors lost more than $100,000 each. The crime situation in the crypto segment is clearly worsening.

Now, the most troubling part — victims. People over 60 became the main target. They filed 201,000 complaints and lost $7.75 billion. But in crypto scams, it’s even more pronounced: 13,700 complaints from seniors, with losses of $2.76 billion. They fall for investment frauds, crypto ATM schemes, and QR codes. Later, when they realize they’ve been deceived, they become victims of secondary scams — so-called recovery scams, where promises are made to return the money. In these schemes, elderly people lost another $5.4 billion.

By crime type, everything is standard: phishing leads with 191,000 cases, but extortion and investment fraud are also serious. Investment fraud is the most costly, with losses of $8.6 billion.

And what’s truly new and frightening — artificial intelligence. The FBI received over 22,000 complaints related to AI. Losses exceeded $893 million. Scammers use AI to create fake videos of celebrities, clone voices, and forge emails from company executives. AI-related investment scams accounted for $632 million in losses. This significantly changes the cyber threat landscape.

Regarding overall cyber threats: data breaches lead at 39%, followed by ransomware at 36%. The FBI recommends companies enable two-factor authentication, regularly update systems, and create backups. Main malware variants include Akira, Qilin, BianLian, Lockbit, and others.

A positive note — law enforcement agencies have started recovering funds. The FBI froze $679 million in 3,900 cases. In the “Level Up” operation, over 8,000 potential victims were warned, and more than $500 million were saved. In cooperation with Indian police, 27 operations against scam call centers were conducted, with over 475 arrests.

Overall, the report shows that cybercrime is increasing, methods are becoming more sophisticated, and cryptocurrencies remain a key tool for money laundering. AI lowers the barriers to entry into criminal activity. Seniors are the most vulnerable group. For regular users, this means: learn to recognize scams, don’t believe promises of quick earnings, verify information. For the industry, better protection and increased international cooperation are needed to fight this.