Crypto Fraud Report
The interest in crypto has rocketed in the last couple of years, and as a result, more and more people are beginning to invest in cryptocurrency. As the interest rises, companies are developing platforms and finding ways to make crypto more accessible. Some banks around the world are beginning to accept crypto as a currency, and you can even buy Bitcoin with PayPal.
However, this growing interest in crypto can also motivate people in the wrong way. Crypto fraud and scams have been increasing each year, causing people to lose their investments through no fault of their own. We wanted to find out the most costly cases of crypto scams, the most commonly stolen coins, the most common method of scams, the most targeted countries, and how much crypto scams have increased.
Most Expensive Crypto Breaches and Fraud
In the last few years cryptocurrencies have boomed, attracting a huge number of new investors. However, this growing interest has also caused a growing number of opportunities for scammers. That’s why we wanted to find out which scams were the most costly.
Plus Token Ponzi
Amount stolen:
$2.9 billion
The most costly crypto scam was by Plus Token, where almost $3 billion worth of Bitcoin and Ethereum was stolen. Plus Token was a Ponzi scheme which was disguised as an investment programme. A Ponzi scheme is a type of fraud which lures new investors to pay off older investors, leading its victims to assume the profits are coming from legitimate business dealings.
Thodex
Amount stolen:
$2.0 billion
Thodex was a global cryptocurrency exchange formed in 2017. In 2021, the trading platform stopped its users from accessing their accounts or withdrawing any funds. Despite statements from the platform itself, a preliminary police report revealed the CEO had allegedly fled from Turkey with $2 billion worth of cryptocurrency, leaving its 700,000 users scammed.
Wotoken
Amount stolen:
$1.0 billion
WoToken was another Ponzi scheme which defrauded $1 billion from more than 700,000 users. WoToken was dubbed ‘Plus Token 2.0’ by the media due to its similarities with the Plus Token scam. It was also revealed that one of the members of WoToken was part of the Plus Token scam.
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Most Stolen Coins
As cryptocurrencies all have differing values, we wanted to find out which cryptocurrency was being stolen the most.
BTC, Bitcoin
The most stolen cryptocurrency is Bitcoin (BTC), being stolen in 94 crypto scams. BTC is the most popular and most valuable cryptocurrency there is. One Bitcoin can cost you around $20,000, and its creator is still unknown. Despite Bitcoin standing at the top of this list, it was only stolen three times in 2022.
Times stolen:
94
ETH, Ethereum
Ethereum (ETH) was the second most common cryptocurrency stolen, being stolen 84 times. One Ethereum can cost over $1,000 and it was developed by Gavin Wood and Vitalik Buterin. Ethereum was also the second most stolen currency in 2022, stolen 33 times.
Times stolen:
85
BSC, Binance Smart Chain
Completing our top three is Binance Smart Chain (BSC), which was stolen 79 times. BSC was the most stolen currency of 2022, being stolen a total of 50 times, 17 more than any other currency, and an increase of 21 times compared to the previous year. Binance Smart Chain is a blockchain designed to make it easier to track your exchanges. The creators of the Binance Smart Chain also have their own cryptocurrency, BNB, which was rebranded from the Binance Coin to Build and Build.
Times stolen:
79
Most Common Type of Crypto Offence
DeFi Breach
The most common crypto attack was DeFi breaches, otherwise known as Decentralised finance. DeFi, or decentralised finance in its longer form, is a financial service which offers the same features as traditional banks (centralised finance) but eliminates the middle-man who would usually take a fee. DeFi breaches were the most common crypto attack, happening 167 times, with almost $4 million lost. DeFi breaches were also the most common type of breaches during 2022. These happened 80 times and accounted for almost half of the total cases of DeFi breaches.
Crypto offences:
167
Amount Stolen:
$4.0bn
Breach
The second most common type of crypto attack was breaches, which happened 123 times. Within the 123 breaches, over $3 million was stolen or lost. Breaches appear to have become less common in 2022, with just four attacks happening so far, out of the 122.
Crypto offences:
123
Amount Stolen:
$3.3bn
Fraud
Completing our top three is fraud, which happened 74 times. Despite happening less frequently, more money has been lost through fraud than any other type of crypto attack. In fact, more money has been lost or stolen through fraud than breaches and DeFi breaches combined. Fraud has also rocketed in 2022, occurring 36 times, which accounts for almost half of the total cases of Fraud.
Crypto offences:
74
Amount Stolen:
$7.3bn
Most Targeted Countries
There are crypto investors and users all around the world. That’s why we wanted to know which countries had experienced the most breaches.
United States
The United States is the most commonly targeted country, with 13 hacks and breaches since 2011. The most recent was in July 2020 when hackers got into verified Twitter accounts and launched a fake donation campaign.
Incidents:
13
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom is in second place with 11 hacks and breaches. The most expensive of these was in November 2017 when $155 million worth of ETH was locked after a user accidentally used a contract vulnerability.
Incidents:
11
South Korea
South Korea completes our top three with 8 hacks and breaches. In South Korea, $158 million has been lost through hacks, with the most costly being worth over $50 million. However, South Korea hasn’t had a hack since November 2019.
Incidents:
8
How Much Has CryptoFraud Increased?
We calculated the year-on-year increase in the number of scams, to find out which year crypto fraud boomed.
2022
Incidents:
120
2022 was the worst year for crypto fraud and breaches, with 120 different incidents occurring during the year. This was 26 more than the previous year, which equates to an increase of almost 28%. Despite the surge in incidents, the value lost in these incidents was actually less than half of the previous year.
2021
Incidents:
94
2021 saw the biggest increase in incidents from the previous year, rising by over 200%. There were 94 incidents during 2021, and the total funds lost was the highest in the last 10 years, at $4.6 billion.
2020
Incidents:
31
The third highest number of crypto breaches was in 2020 when 31 incidents occurred. This was an increase of just under 20% of the 26 accumulated during the previous year. Just under $1.5 billion was lost during these 31 incidents, which was the fourth-highest amount on our list.
Select Currency
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Year |
No. of incidents |
Funds stolen |
Funds stolen |
Funds stolen |
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How Has Crypto Fraud Changed in 2022
Most Stolen Coin in 2022:
BSC, Binance Smart Chain
BSC was the most stolen coin in 2022, with the currency being stolen a total of 50 times. This was a 72% increase from 2021 when it was stolen just 29 times. The second most commonly stolen coin was ETH at 33 times.
Times stolen:
50
The Currency with the biggest increase in 2022:
FTM, Fantom
FTM, otherwise known as Fantom, was the cryptocurrency which rose the most from 2021. FTM was stolen just once in 2021, and five times in 2022 causing an increase of 400%.
Increase
400%
Most Common Type of Crypto Offence in 2022:
DeFi Breach
DeFi Breaches were the most common type of crypto offence, happening 80 times. This was a minor increase of just under 10% from 2021 when it was stolen 73 times. The biggest change in crypto offences was in fraud, which increased from 15 times in 2021 to 36 times in 2022.
Crypto offences:
80
The Crypto Offence with the biggest increase in 2022:
Fraud
Fraud was the biggest increase of crypto offence, rising 140% from 15 to 36. The costly case of fraud was Mining Capital Coin where $62 million was stolen.
Increase:
140%
Most Expensive Breach in 2022:
Ronin
The most expensive breach was to Axie Infinity’s Ronin Bridge where $650 million was stolen. This was a DeFi Breach where ETH and ECR-20 were stolen. 2021’s most expensive breach was the Thodex Breach which was the second most expensive crypto scam ever.
Amount stolen:
$650 million
Methodology
All data was sourced from Crystal Block Chain, which shows data from 2011 to 2022. Data is accurate from 31.10.2022.
