- Chainalysis believes AI will help scammers pocket more funds in 2025
- Chainalysis said that advancements in AI have enabled scammers to scale their activities
- The blockchain analysis firm said investment and pig butchering scams had the highest crypto revenues in 2024
Blockchain security firm Chainalysis expects crypto scammers to steal more funds in 2025 due to advancements in AI technology. Chainalysis said generative AI or GenAI is allowing scammers to scale their businesses by “enabling high-fidelity [and] low-cost […] fraud that exploits human vulnerabilities.” It added that AI powers the creation of “realistic fake content,” which makes scams hard to detect thus increasing the number of victims and the amount of funds stolen.
AI-Created Accounts Bypass Identity Verification
In its “Crypto Scam Revenue 2024” report, Chainalysis said that scams are the top threat to financial firms, adding that AI helps malicious actors to create fake identities that allow them to impersonate real users and consequently help with identity verification.
It added that more than 80% of scams are associated with suspicious accounts that slip through identity verification solutions. Chainalysis also noted that AI enables scammers to trick victims into making payments “under false pretenses.”
The blockchain analytics firm gave an example of a vendor on the Huione Guarantee platform that sells AI face-changing services. According to Chainalysis, the ad has attracted “AI software buyers and potential scammers.”
It disclosed that one of the buyers received the proceeds of a pig butchering scam three days after purchasing the services, an indication of how quickly scammers can nab victims using AI.
Scammers Re-Investing Profits Into AI
The analytics firm observed that scammers using AI software are using their profits to venture deeper into AI technology to run new AI-powered scams. According to a recent report by blockchain security firm PeckShield, scammers pocketed $400 million more in 2024 than in 2023.
With scammers turning to AI, it’s likely the amount stolen by malicious actors in 2025 will exceed the $3 billion recorded in 2024.
