Between Sept. 8, 2023, and Dec. 31, 2025, approximately $12.7 billion in financial activity was tied to suspected digital asset investment scams, according to the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) analysis.
The network issued an alert on Thursday warning financial institutions to be vigilant regarding digital asset investment scams perpetrated by overseas scam centers.
“Digital asset investment scams pose one of the most significant fraud threats facing Americans today,” Gene Lange, performing the duties of under secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, said. “The transnational criminal organizations behind these scams exploit both emerging technologies and human vulnerabilities, resulting in devastating financial losses for innocent American victims.”
FinEN analyzed 33,904 Bank Secrecy Act reports involving suspected digital asset investment scam-related activity and learned that scammers targeted Americans of all ages nationwide and used a variety of well-known fraud tactics.
Digital asset investment scams also are known as pig butchering, romance baiting or cryptocurrency confidence schemes. Scammers use assumed names or identities and lure targets by posing as potential romantic partners, new friends, or new business partners. They then convince targets to transfer funds to fraudulent digital asset investments.
Transnational criminal organizations based in Southeast Asia often perpetrate these crimes.