The number of complaints increased by 7% to 847,376 from 2020 to 2021, however the reported losses increased by 64% year over year to $6.9 Billion!
For several years, the #1 Cybercrime type has been Business Email Compromise followed by the #2 of Romance Scam. But this year, we had a change! The criminals have discovered how many people don't understand investing in cryptocurrency and have turned Investment Scams into a new money factory.
#1 is still Business Email Compromise, but with only a 3% increase in victims, there was a 28% increase in reported financial losses. That's an average loss of $120,000 per victim, compared to last year's $96,700 per victim.
#2 dislodges Romance Scams by Investment Scams for the first time ever with a dramatic increase! Investment Scams went from 8,788 complaints to 20,561 complaints, while losses increased 333% from $33.6 Million dollars to $1.45 Billion dollars! THat's an average loss of $70,810 per victim, up from $38,287 per victim last year!
#3 Romance Scams was quite similar to 2020 in the number of complaints, however the amount of losses still increased by 59%. In 2020, the average victim lost $25,272, but in 2021, the average victim lost $39,344. And these victims tend to be senior citizens!
Crime Type | 2021 Losses | 2020 Losses | Change in Loss | 2021 Victims | 2020 Victims | Change in Victims |
BEC/EAC | $2,395,953,296 | $1,866,642,107 | 28% | 19954 | 19369 | 3% |
Investment | $1,455,943,193 | $336,469,000 | 333% | 20561 | 8788 | 134% |
Confidence Fraud/Romance | $956,039,739 | $600,249,821 | 59% | 24299 | 23751 | 2% |
Personal Data Breach | $517,021,289 | $194,473,055 | 165% | 51829 | 45330 | 14% |
Real Estate/Rental | $350,328,166 | $213,196,082 | 64% | 11578 | 13638 | -15% |
Tech Support | $347,657,432 | $146,477,709 | 137% | 23903 | 15421 | 55% |
Non-Payment/Non-Delivery | $337,493,071 | $265,011,249 | 27% | 82478 | 108869 | -24% |
Identity Theft | $278,267,918 | $219,484,699 | 27% | 51629 | 43330 | 19% |
Credit Card Fraud | $172,998,385 | $129,820,792 | 33% | 16750 | 17614 | -5% |
Corporate Data Breach | $151,568,225 | $128,916,648 | 18% | 1287 | 2794 | -54% |
Government Impersonation | $142,643,253 | $109,938,030 | 30% | 11335 | 12827 | -12% |
Advanced Fee | $98,694,137 | $83,215,405 | 19% | 11034 | 13020 | -15% |
Civil Matter | $85,049,939 | $24,915,958 | 241% | 1118 | 968 | 15% |
Spoofing | $82,169,806 | $216,513,728 | -62% | 18522 | 28218 | -34% |
Other | $75,837,524 | $101,523,082 | -25% | 12346 | 10372 | 19% |
Lottery/Sweepstakes/Inheritance | $71,289,089 | $61,111,319 | 17% | 5991 | 8501 | -30% |
Extortion | $60,577,741 | $70,935,939 | -15% | 39360 | 76741 | -49% |
Ransomware | $49,207,908 | $29,157,405 | 69% | 3729 | 2474 | 51% |
Employment | $47,231,023 | $62,314,015 | -24% | 15253 | 16879 | -10% |
Phishing/Vishing/Smishing/Pharming | $44,213,707 | $54,241,075 | -18% | 323972 | 241342 | 34% |
Overpayment | $33,407,671 | $51,039,922 | -35% | 6108 | 10988 | -44% |
IPR/Copyright and Counterfeit | $16,365,011 | $5,910,617 | 177% | 4270 | 4213 | 1% |
Health Care Related | $7,042,942 | $2,904,2515 | -76% | 578 | 1383 | -58% |
Malware/Scareware/Virus | $5,596,889 | $6,904,054 | -19% | 810 | 1423 | -43% |
Terrorism/Threats of Violence | $4,390,720 | $654,7449 | -33% | 12346 | 20669 | -40% |
Gambling | $1,940,237 | $3,961,508 | -51% | 395 | 391 | 1% |
Re-Shipping | $631,466 | $3,095,265 | -80% | 516 | 883 | -42% |
Denial of Service/TDoS | $217,981 | $512,127 | -57% | 1104 | 2018 | -45% |
Crimes Against Children | $198,950 | $660,044 | -70% | 2167 | 3202 | -32% |
Investment Scam Examples
Crypto-Trades[.]uk |
They are regularly abused in that way. CryptSparkFX[.]com, Crypto-binary[.]com, CryptoTrust[.]ltd, CryptoAlphas[.]uk, CryptoHive[.]uk, Webull-Investments[.]com, ExploreFX[.]uk, Crypto-Gain[.]ltd, Slushpool-investment[.]com, Intrex-invest[.]com, and FedelityFunds-Crypto[.]com are some of the other Investment Scam sites that use their address, hoping to gain credibility from it.
Intrex-Invest[.]com |
FedelityFunds-Crypto[.]com |
Slushpool-investment[.]com |
CryptoHive[.]uk |
A True Victim Story
In order to cash out, he just had to pay them a "Sigma Fee" of 10%. He refused ($25,000!?!?!?!)
The Appeal of Easy Money
Article Link: CyberCrime & Doing Time: BEC Still #1, but Investment Fraud passes Romance Scams