Americans reported losing $5.6 billion to cryptocurrency scams in 2023, with older Americans hit the hardest, according to the FBI. Americans 60 years old and older filed more than 16,000 complaints of cryptocurrency fraud and reported losing over $1.6 billion, much more than any other age group. The reported scams ranged from phony tech support help and extortion to scammers impersonating government officials. The vast majority of reported losses — almost $4 billion — were a result of investment scams, a category that the FBI uses primarily to refer to so-called pig butchering scams. Last year, a United Nations report found that pig butchering scams are often run by human trafficking victims in Southeast Asia.

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Persons: ’, ”, Amy Nofziger, Nofziger Organizations: FBI, NBC News, AARP, United Locations: United Nations, Southeast Asia, California, Chicago