If you hold - or thinking about holding - crypto, scams might be a concern, and you're not alone. In our 2026 State of Crypto Holders Report, 72% of holders said the same. While all cybercrimes - including those involving and not involving crypto - have cost Americans billions, most people who hold crypto report positive experiences with it. Only 3% of crypto holders have had a bad experience (and not all of those were scam-related).
A lot of the worry comes from the news, where three very different things often get blended into one. They are scams, fraud, and illicit finance. Once you can tell them apart, the headlines feel less overwhelming.
What's the difference between the three?
Scams are tricks designed to separate people from their money, and they show up anywhere money changes hands, including crypto. A few come up again and again:
Fake giveaways. Seen as a post or message promising to send back double whatever crypto you send over first. Yet, nothing ever gets sent back.
Impersonation. When someone pretends to be a company, a public figure, or even a person you know, hoping you will send crypto or hand over access to your account.
Phishing. Seen as a fake message or website built to look real in order for you to type in your password or wallet details.
Most scams work the same way. Someone earns your trust or rushes you, then gets you to send them money. Once you hit send, it is very hard to get back. Crypto payments are final. There is no middleman to call and undo the transaction.
Scams and fraud are related, but they're not quite the same thing. As described, a scam is the trick or con. An investment fraud is usually a more elaborate deception.. Counterfeit concert tickets, fake designer goods, and forged art are other everyday examples.
In crypto, fraud usually happens at the level of a whole project or market, where one bad actor can affect a lot of people at once. Two common forms:
Rug pull or Pump and Dump. Developers hype up a brand-new coin, collect the money people put in, then disappear. The price crashes, and the money is gone.
Ponzi scheme. One you have probably heard of. Early investors get paid with money from newer investors, and it keeps going until new money stops coming in and the whole thing falls apart. Bernie Madoff made this scheme infamous long before crypto existed. The same playbook still shows up today.
Lastly, illicit finance is when the money being moved came from a crime in the first place. The crime came first, and crypto just became another way to move the money. Of the three, this is the one you are least likely to run into. Law enforcement spend a lot of time “following the money” from scams and fraud and while that work is very difficult, the blockchain can make that work a bit easier because there is always a public record of transactions.
How crypto is easier to trace than cash
When cash changes hands, the trail usually goes cold. Crypto transactions are recorded on the blockchain, a public ledger that anyone can look at, including investigators.
That public record has helped retrieve stolen money back to the people who lost it.
In 2021, after a ransomware attack, the FBI traced the payment across the blockchain and recovered about half of the Bitcoin that had been handed over.
In 2025, the FBI, the U.S. Secret Service, and Coinbase worked together to seize $225 million tied to scam victims. That money is now being returned to the people it was taken from.
Key takeaways
Most of the worry around crypto and crime comes from squashing these three things into one idea, and that can make crypto sound scarier than it is.
These problems are all older than crypto. People have used tricks like these for as long as money has existed, through cash, checks, and bank transfers, long before any of them reached crypto. Any technology can be misused by someone with bad intentions, and that has been true of every new way to pay. When rotary phones found their way into every house, scammers were ringing up victims.
For most people, scams are the one worth keeping an eye on, and the good news is that using safe habits when it comes to your money can help keep you safe anywhere online.
Slow down when a message feels urgent, and check who is really on the other end before any money moves. Our staying safe guide is a good place to start as these habits are worth a refresher on from time to time.
The FBI recently joined NCA's podcast, Crypto, Explained, to walk through how to spot common scams, share a few safety reminders, and explain how investigators work with crypto companies to recover stolen funds. If you want to hear how this works in practice, give it a listen.