AI Slashes Scam Costs and Expands Crypto Fraud

Chainalysis found average on-chain revenue of $3.2 million per scam operation with observed links to AI vendors, compared with $719,000 for operations without those links. The FBI recorded 22,364 complaints containing AI-related information and approximately $893.3 million in adjusted losses in its 2025 Internet Crime Complaint Center summary. AI is making the persuasion layer of fraud cheaper to run, while crypto can turn a successful confidence trick into a transfer within seconds.

Why it matters

Romance scams, fake investment advisers and impersonation fraud have traditionally required people to maintain conversations, identities and believable details. AI can help one operator manage more targets across more languages while generating convincing documents, images, voices and identities. It does not need to understand empathy to imitate it well enough to keep a victim engaged.

The data does not prove that an AI subscription automatically quadruples criminal income. Larger operations may be more likely to use sophisticated tools, and blockchain data cannot capture every use of AI. It does show why automation is attractive: criminals can attempt more fraud without building a much larger human operation.

Market impact

The threat is not limited to online messages. Anthropic described an extortion campaign targeting at least 17 organizations in which Claude Code assisted with technical work, information analysis and the preparation of demands that sometimes exceeded $500,000. The accounts were banned and information was shared with authorities.

For crypto users and financial institutions, familiar voices, polished video calls and long conversations are becoming weaker proof of identity. Defensive efforts therefore need to focus closer to the payment layer, including accounts, exchanges, banks, payment services and mule networks that move proceeds. Interpol's 2026 assessment highlighted international efforts to stop payments after fraud is detected, while scam compounds and forced-labor operations continue to operate alongside AI-enabled services.