Bitcoin scams were the biggest con in 2025 says cybersecurity expert

Bitcoin scams were top con in 2025

Scams took a new form in 2025 say experts - and this time Bitcoin was the most popular way by crooks.

FOX 2 - The number one scam of 2025, according to cybersecurity expert David Derigiotis  has to do with Bitcoin kiosks.

The backstory:

"This is a $330-plus million problem that only continues to spiral out of hand," he said.

That's up from $250 million in 2024, nearly $100 million more that scammers are conning out of everyday victims. And you don't even have to know what a Bitcoin is to fall for it. In fact, most victims don't.

"The median age for those impacted by the scam is 71 years old," Derigiotis said.

But why are criminals able to carry out this con with such success?

"They are walking you through a very simple process," he said. "They're tricking individuals into pulling money from their accounts, and then they're going to these kiosks, depositing that money and sending the Bitcoin."

By now, you've likely heard of the fake juror scam, or a warrant that's out for your arrest. Well, Derigiotis says, with the help of a couple prompts and AI, a scammer can create a convincing fake warrant, which he sent to me as an example.

"They are able to create a warrant for your arrest in just a matter of moments," he said. "You type in the prompt, tell it what you're looking for, and it gives you an official document. And then on top of that, it's so easy to get a number of internet numbers or spoof numbers. So these text messages and calls are coming from all sorts of numbers all over the world."

He says Bitcoin is the currency of choice for a number of reasons.

Number one, it's borderless. You can send this cryptocurrency anywhere in the world. Number two, and this is probably the most important, it is nearly irreversible. Once you send that money, it will be gone and it's very difficult to claw it back.

Typically, he says, there is a Bitcoin kiosk near a victim anywhere in the U.S. And using a kiosks for a transaction cuts out the possibility of a bank teller or someone else intervening and trying to stop you from making a mistake.

There is hope. Our best line of defense in this situation, is education. No one should ever ask you for a payment via Bitcoin or a gift card. As soon as they ask for that, it's a scam. Hang up immediately.