The malicious actor stole around $9.9 billion from last year's crypto ecosystem. According to a recent chain analysis report, it is the lowest since 2021.
The company added that the figure is expected to rise to $12.4 billion as more fraudulent addresses have been identified.
Furthermore, the report warned that AI-powered fraud technology and specialisation in fraudulent ecosystems are taking illegal activities to unprecedented levels.
AI Supercharged Crypto Scam
Generic AI significantly lowers the barriers for fraudsters, allowing them to create compelling synthetic identities, fake investment schemes, and deepfark-driven fraud.
The report revealed that 85% of frauds include fully verified accounts that bypass traditional identity verification.
“We are pleased to announce that Elad Fouks, Head of fraud products at Chain Orisis,” said:
“genai amplifies fraud by making it more scalable, cost-effective and difficult to detect. Criminals can spoof real users, generate fake content, and make them more sophisticated investments. You can adjust the fraud.”
The Huione Guaranteed Platform, a peer-to-peer black market hub, has become a key enabler of AI-driven fraud. Provides illegal services such as AI-generated identity, Deepfake Voice technology, and synthetic verification tools.
Data on the chain shows a pattern of payments to Fiione's AI software vendors rushing to spike just days before the big Butane scams see an influx. This shows that scammers reinvest illegal profits in AI tools to promote future schemes.
Slaughtering of pigs and the rise of highs
Among the various fraud schemes, high-yield investment fraud (HYIS) and pig slaughter fraud accounted for most illegal crypto flows, receiving 50.2% and 33.2% of fraudulent income, respectively.
Inflows to the HYIS scheme fell 36.6% year-on-year, but pig slaughter fraud spiked nearly 40%, reflecting the growth trends in romance and investment fraud targeting unsuspecting victims. These operations often come from large scale contraception compounds in Southeast Asia and are expanding worldwide.
Slaughtering of pigs is a fraudulent way of inviting victims to invest in fake cryptography schemes. Bad actors convince unsuspecting investors to gradually allocate more money on fake promises and steal the amount.
In December 2024, Nigerian authorities arrested 48 Chinese and 40 Filipino citizens as they ran a crypto investment scam targeting victims in Europe and America.
Meanwhile, Interpol disrupts global fraud networks, including operations in Namibia, where 88 trafficked young people were forced to commit crypto fraud in June 2024.
Scams are evolving
Furthermore, fraudsters diversified their methods and moved from long-term investment scams to a rapidly hit employment scam. There, the victim unconsciously sends a crypto deposit in the disguise of a fee.
“We are pleased to announce that Eric Heintz, a global analyst at International Justice Mission (IJM)”
“These scams are particularly insidious because they prey on job seekers, especially those who are desperate for work.”
As scammers improve their techniques, Fione is expanding their financial infrastructure. In 2024, the platform launched a blockchain project called Xone and a Stablecoin called USDH. It is designed to avoid regulatory oversight and asset attacks.
Authorities are now competing to contain the growing scam outbreak. While Interpol and Financial watchdogs have stepped up enforcement, they distinguish the refinement of fraud and reliance on AI as potentially inadequate traditional regulatory tools.
It is mentioned in this article
Arabic
Chinese (Simplified)
Dutch
English
French
German
Italian
Portuguese
Russian
Spanish