BeInCrypto takes a look at the top cryptocurrency scam trends and biggest incidents of 2022.
Between January and November 2022, hackers made off with $4.3 billion in cryptocurrency, according to a recent report. report. This represents an increase of approximately 37% from 2021 year-over-year. But while the total amount increased, 2022 had the lowest individual transfers to cryptocurrency scams in the last four years.
Crypto Scam Trends
Like last year, most cryptocurrency hacks and scams in 2022 were the result of attacks on DeFi protocols, exchanges, and blockchain bridges. Approximately 72% of cryptocurrency stolen by hackers in 2021 came from DeFi protocols, while 21% of all cryptocurrency hacks that year exploited vulnerabilities in DeFi. This year, approximately 97% of all stolen cryptocurrencies were acquired from DeFi protocols. Meanwhile, cross-chain bridge breaches represent an estimated loss of $1.4 billion in 2022.
According to Solidus Labs, 2022 saw a 20% increase in cryptocurrency scams compared to 2021, with rug scams growing in prominence. In 2021, investors lost $2.8 billion due to rugpulls, in which project creators suddenly steal investment funds. Meanwhile, 2022 saw more than 188,000 incidents across various blockchains, such as BNB and Ethereum. Solidus Labs also reported that 12% of all BEP-20 tokens were linked to scams, meaning Binance BNB Chain experienced the most scams this year.
One type of cryptocurrency scam that was on the rise this year was the so-called pig slaughter or romance schemes. In these cases, scammers will seduce a victim online and convince them to periodically invest in cryptocurrency, only to ultimately lock them out and abscond with the funds.
According to a survey by Social Catfish, romance scams start on dating apps (35%), Facebook (10%), and various other apps. While victims lost more than $139 million worth of cryptocurrency to these schemes in 2021, Americans lost $185 million worth of cryptocurrency to romance scams in the first quarter of 2022 alone.
While Americans lost $329 million to cryptocurrency scams in the first quarter of 2022, Australians lost $166 million for the entire year. Additionally, investors in Hong Kong lost $50 million to cryptocurrency scams in 2022. Meanwhile, North Korean-affiliated hackers have stolen around $1 billion worth of cryptocurrency from DeFi protocols.
Biggest incidents this year
However, as these forms of crypto scams proliferated this year, the biggest loss came from a much more reliable source. After cryptocurrency exchange FTX filed for bankruptcy, an investigation revealed that between $1 and $2 billion of client funds were missing. This makes it the largest cryptocurrency scam perpetrated this year.
However, the next two largest losses were attributed to the more traditional means of crypto scam mentioned above. In March, hackers stole some $615 million worth of USDC and Ethereum from Axie Infinity’s Ronin Network. The third largest loss took place in early February when a hacker exploited the Wormhole protocol for approximately $325 million in Ethereum.
Disclaimer
BeInCrypto has reached out to the company or person involved in the story for an official statement on recent developments, but has yet to hear back.
