Quarter of $1.1b scam losses in 2024 involved cryptocurrency

Figure up from 6.8% recorded in 2023; one victim lost $125m in malware-enabled ruse

- Nadine Chua

Almost a quarter of the $1.1 billion lost to scams in 2024 involved cryptocurrency, with one victim losing $125 million in cryptocurrency funds in a malware-enabled scam.

Police said the 36-year-old man clicked on a fake interview meeting link and was asked by scammers to run a script on his laptop, which turned out to be a malicious code that targeted his cryptocurrency wallet.

He realised he was scammed only after discovering cryptocurrency transactions that he had not authorised.

Police said cryptocurrency losses accounted for 24.3 per cent of total scam losses in 2024, a surge from the 6.8 per cent recorded the previous year.

In releasing the annual scam statistics on Feb 25, police said victims in four cases lost a total of $237.9 million in 2024.

Three of the cases involved cryptocurrency losses.

One of the victims lost $33.8 million after falling for a phishing scam. The loss accounted for more than half of the $59.4 million scammers stole in 8,552 phishing scam cases in 2024.