Blockchain firm Chainalysis has unravelled crypto crime report for 2022, indicating that the indiscriminate collapse of crypto prices drastically aided crypto scam revenue to drop in 2022.
Meanwhile, it was established that two types of scams defied all odds to stay immune.
According to the Chainalysis report, the crypto scams that experienced drastic drop in revenues include investment scams, NFT scams, romance scams, among others.
It was gathered that the 2022 scams amounted to $5.9 billion in 2022, which implied a 46% decline in 2021.
However, Chianalysis established that the significant decline can also be likened to the poor market conditions, lower crypto prices, as well as major shake-off like the FTX collapse.
It was further revealed that romance scams and giveaway scams soared significantly during the period. It was established that scam revenue throughout 2022 fared alongside Bitcoin’s price.
The report partly reads:
“For instance, unlike other kinds of scams, romance and giveaway scams don’t show a positive correlation with Bitcoin’s price.”
On the other hand, romance scams accumulated the highest average victim deposit size in 2022. It was revealed that the average victim lost about $16,000 to romance scam, which was three times higher than any other form of scams.
Abating Scams in the Crypto Space
While there was a decline in crypto scam revenue in 2022, it is noteworthy that the number of incidences recorded last year surpassed the previous year. According to the PeckShield Alert report, more than $3 billion was lost to hacking in 2022.
The report by blockchain security firm Certik was particularly surprising as it uncovered tricks adopted by crypto scammers, which was quite helpful for crypto firms in order to avert being victims of circumstances.
More than any other time, such an initiative should not only be consolidated but it should be deeply explored for better security and protection of Web3 space against hackers and scammers.
