Crypto Scams Drops by 77% in H1 of 2023, Chainalysis Says

A recent report found that the crypto scams fell by 77% in the first six months of 2023, according to blockchain analysis firm, Chainalysis.

The total value of the crypto scams went down from $3.3 billion to $1.1 billion in the first half of this year, Chainalysis said in its Mid Year Crypto Crime report, pointing out that the scams revenues are taking a downward trend for the second consecutive year, according to Cointelegraph.

However, the report mentioned that the ransom attacks are increasing again as the attackers’ revenues increased by 62.4% in the first half of 2023 compared to the same period last year.

One of the report’s observations is that the crypto scams are supposed to increase in the bull markets, but this did not happen in 2023 so far, the report mentioned, saying: “Usually, positive price movements translate to higher scam revenue, likely because increased market exuberance and FOMO make victims more susceptible to scammers’ pitches. But 2023’s drastic scam decline bucks that long-standing trend.”

According to the report, the inflows into the illicit entities declined by 65% in the first six month of 2023, compared to the same timeframe last year, while inflows to risky entities — such as cryptocurrency mixers and high-risk exchanges — dropped by 42%.

The firm attributed this decline to the decreasing transaction volumes. It also noted that the illicit inflows have fallen at a faster rate.

Meanwhile, a recent report by Web3 and blockchain security company Beosin showed that the total amount of cryptocurrency lost due to hacks, scams, and rug pulls amounted to $656 million in the first half of 2023.

The $656 million includes $471.43 million lost in 108 protocol attacks, an additional $108 million in various phishing scams and $75.87 million over 110 rug pulls.

Beosin pointed out that the first six months of 2023 witnessed a decline in the amount of crypto stolen due to hacks compared to the same period in 2022 and the last six months of 2022 also.