Treasury urges banks to file cyber scam reports, noting nearly $13 billion in losses since 2023
The U.S. Treasury Department’s FinCEN released a report detailing nearly $13 billion in cyber scam losses since 2023, primarily through cryptocurrency scams orchestrated by transnational criminal organizations. The report highlighted a significant increase in scam activity, with victims utilizing various methods like wire transfers and cryptocurrency exchanges to fund schemes. The U.S. government recently sanctioned Xinbi Guarantee, a Telegram-based marketplace facilitating the laundering of billions in scam funds.
The federal government is urging financial institutions to be more vigilant in identifying and reporting cyber scams, following a recent report revealing nearly $13 billion in losses since 2023. The Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) released a comprehensive study of over 33,000 cyber fraud incident reports submitted between September 2023 and December 2025.
The report indicates a substantial rise in scam activity, with a significant portion – approximately $12.7 billion – attributed to cryptocurrency investment scams. These scams originated from criminal organizations operating across international borders, frequently utilizing emerging technologies and exploiting human vulnerabilities. The report notes that financial institutions often only gained visibility into one phase of a scam’s lifecycle, making detection challenging.
Scammers employ diverse personas, including romantic partners and trusted financial advisors, to entice victims into sending money. Victims utilized various methods to fund the scams, including traditional bank transfers and cryptocurrency exchanges, often seeking to purchase digital assets. Many victims also applied for loans and second mortgages to facilitate the scams.
Specifically, the report highlighted cases where victims transferred retirement funds, withdrew from investment accounts, and took out lines of credit to send money to scammer-affiliated accounts. A case involved an older adult transferring nearly $640,000 from her retirement fund to invest in a fictitious digital asset company, after meeting the individual on social media.
Cryptocurrencies like Ethereum, Tether (USDT), and USD Coin (USDC) were frequently used, with scammers almost always exchanging stolen funds for USDT. The report also revealed that some scammers posed as ‘asset recovery services’ to steal from victims again. Days after the report’s release, the U.S. government sanctioned Xinbi Guarantee, a Telegram-based illicit marketplace that had become a key platform for Southeast Asia scam compounds after the takedown of Chinese platform Huione, facilitating the laundering of over $36 billion.
Jonathan Greig is a Breaking News Reporter at Recorded Future News.