Chainalysis warns impersonation scams surged as 2025 crypto losses may top $17 billion

Beincrypto reports that Chainalysis estimates crypto-related scams may exceed $17 billion in losses for 2025 and that impersonation scams jumped nearly 1,400% year over year. Chainalysis said cryptocurrency scams received at least $14 billion on-chain during the year, marking a sharp increase from the $9.9 billion initially reported for 2024 and a later revision to $12 billion.

The firm also reported that the average value of scam payments rose from $782 in 2024 to $2,764 in 2025, a roughly 253% increase. The report flagged impersonation schemes as a “particularly concerning trend.” “Impersonation tactics that saw a staggering 1400% year-over-year (YoY) growth….with the average severity (i.e., amount) of payments made to these clusters increasing by over 600%,” Chainalysis stated, citing examples such as an “E-ZPass” SMS phishing campaign and exchange impersonation that stole nearly $16 million.

Chainalysis further found that AI-linked scam operations generated about $3.2 million per operation versus roughly $719,000 for others, with a median daily intake of $4,838 compared with $518, and warned that AI is likely to be incorporated into nearly all scam operations.

Key Topics

Crypto, Chainalysis, Impersonation Scams, Ai, E-zpass, Coinbase