2022 highlighted some of the biggest crypto scams and trends

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BeInCrypto takes a look at the top cryptocurrency scam trends and biggest incidents of 2022.

Between January and November 2022, hackers got away with $4.3 billion in cryptocurrency, according to a recent report. This represents an increase of approximately 37% compared to 2021 year-over-year. But while the overall amount has increased, 2022 saw the lowest individual transfers to crypto scams in the past four years.

Trending Crypto Scams

Just like last year, most cryptocurrency hacks and scams in 2022 resulted from attacks on DeFi protocols, exchanges, and blockchain bridges. About 72% of cryptocurrency stolen by hackers in 2021 came from DeFi protocols, while 21% of all crypto hacks that year exploited DeFi vulnerabilities. This year, around 97% of all stolen cryptocurrencies were acquired from DeFi protocols. Meanwhile, inter-chain bridge breaches represent an estimated loss of $1.4 billion in 2022.

According to Solidus Labs, 2022 saw a 20% increase in crypto scams compared to 2021, with increasingly prominent rugpulls. In 2021, investors lost $2.8 billion lost to mats, in which investment funds are suddenly stolen by project creators. Meanwhile, 2022 recorded over 188,000 incidents on various blockchains, such as BNB and Ethereum. Solidus Labs also reported that 12% of all BEP-20 tokens were linked to scams, meaning Binances BNB Chain saw the most scams this year.

One type of cryptocurrency scam on the rise this year was what is known as pig butchering or romance schemes. In these cases, the scammers will seduce a victim online and convince them to periodically invest in crypto, only to eventually block them and get away with the funds.

According to a survey by Social Catfish, romance scams start on dating apps (35%), Facebook (10%) and other miscellaneous apps. While victims lost over $139 million in crypto to these schemes in 2021, Americans lost $185 million in crypto 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 throughout the year. Additionally, investors in Hong Kong lost $50 million to cryptocurrency scams in 2022. Meanwhile, North Korea-affiliated hackers stole around $1 billion worth of cryptocurrency to DeFi protocols.

The biggest incidents this year

Yet, as these forms of crypto scams proliferated this year, the greatest loss came from a much more trusted source. After cryptocurrency exchange FTX filed for bankruptcy, an investigation found between $1 billion and $2 billion in client funds were missing. This makes it the biggest cryptocurrency scam perpetrated this year.

However, the next two biggest losses were attributed to the more traditional means of crypto scam mentioned above. In March, hackers stole some $615 million in USDC and Ethereum from Axie Infinitys Ronin Network. The third largest loss occurred in early February when a hacker exploited the Wormhole protocol for around $325 million in Ethereum.

Disclaimer

BeInCrypto has reached out to a company or individual involved in the story for an official statement on recent developments, but has yet to receive a response.

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