Crypto analytics firm Chainalysis says impersonation, AI crypto scams stole $17 billion last year

As much as $17 billion in crypto was lost to scams and frauds in 2025, crypto analytics firm Chainalysis said in its latest report.

Criminals leaned into impersonation tactics and artificial intelligence to industrialize the way they hunt victims, the 2026 Crypto Crime Report, published Jan. 13, said. Impersonation, crypto exchange impostors and AI-generated scams against individuals are gradually overtaking losses to cyber-attacks as the leading methods malicious actors use to steal funds.

In one example, a man in the U.K. lost nearly $2.5 million to a bitcoin scam in 2025 that involved what police called “a disturbing new trend,” where scammers exploit “fear” and “panic,” crafting sophisticated social engineering schemes that can trick even diligent holders, North Wales police told the BBC.

“Between 2020 and the end of 2023, nearly 100,000 people in the U.K. fell victim to investment scams, totalling £2.6 billion (approximately $3.5 million) or about £13 million ($17.5 million) every week,” the North Wales Cyber Unit reported in April 2024. “These figures refer only to reported scams, so the true figure is likely to be considerably higher.”

Those stories are no longer edge cases, according to Chainalysis.

Chainalysis said impersonation scams alone posted 1,400% year-over-year growth, with the average payment size rising sharply as criminals shifted away from “spray-and-pray” cons toward fewer but more lucrative targets. The firm also found that AI-enabled scams were 4.5 times more profitable than traditional scams, as deepfakes and automated tools make fake “support agents,” “government notices,” and “trusted insiders” easier to manufacture at scale.

The evolution matters because it reframes where the biggest crypto losses are coming from. While hacks remain a persistent threat, Chainalysis previously reported nearly $2.2 billion stolen in 2024, scams increasingly rely on something harder to patch than a vulnerable smart contract: human trust.

Lior Aizik, co-founder and Chief Operating Officer at crypto exchange XBO, said the trend matches what he’s seeing firsthand.

“Across the crypto industry, impersonation scams are increasing and becoming more sophisticated,” he told CoinDesk, warning users to never share sensitive data, even if they believe they’re speaking with legitimate support staff. “Of course, never transfer your crypto to anyone: and if a message feels urgent or secretive, it’s usually a red flag.”

Aizik said he has been impersonated multiple times. “Scammers have impersonated me by name, using fake profiles to contact people in the industry and request money while pretending to represent XBO. These attacks rely on urgency and trust, not technology.”

Chainalysis’ data suggests that distinction may be the point: crypto crime is no longer just about breaches and exploits, it’s increasingly about deception that looks real enough to bypass skepticism, even when wallets and exchanges do everything else right.