Latest trends in cryptocurrency fraud (2024–2025)
Fake ICOs and token sales – Example: in 2024, fraudsters took over celebrity accounts (including McDonald's, Usher) and promoted fake memecoins, scamming 3.5 million USD in a pump-and-dump scheme.
Phishing of wallet applications – Example: attacks on MetaMask users through fake ads in Google Play, leading to app substitution and theft of funds.
Fake airdrops – Example: a scam with an alleged XRP airdrop, using the image of the CEO of Ripple, scamming access to wallets.
Scams 'loan assistance' – Fraudsters recruit victims for money laundering under the pretext of working with 'cryptocurrency loans'.
The biggest cryptocurrency frauds in Poland
The rankings also include Polish threads, e.g. Mining City – a financial pyramid that made it into global fraud rankings.
Ranking of previous frauds:
1. PlusToken – Ponzi scheme operating in Asia, defrauded users of between 2.9 to even 5.7 billion dollars. It was one of the largest scams in the history of cryptocurrencies, with millions of victims.
2. BitConnect – A global financial pyramid that promised high profits from cryptocurrency arbitrage. It is estimated to have defrauded about 4.1 billion dollars.
3. HyperVerse – A financial pyramid from 2021-2022 that defrauded about 1.8 billion dollars, based on promises of profits from investments in the metaverse.
4. Finiko – A Russian financial pyramid that defrauded about 1.5 billion dollars between 2019 and 2021, offering fake investments in cryptocurrencies.
5. Bybit (hacking attack) – In 2025, one of the largest thefts of funds from a cryptocurrency exchange occurred, with losses amounting to around 1.5 billion dollars; the attack was linked to the Lazarus group.
6. Africrypt – Alleged theft by the founders of a cryptocurrency exchange in South Africa in 2021, with losses estimated at up to 3.6 billion dollars (disputed data).
7. Mirror Trading International – Ponzi scheme from 2020 that defrauded 589 million dollars, promising daily profits from investments.
8. PGI Global – A financial pyramid from 2020 that defrauded 228 million dollars, based on false arbitrage.
9. Jubilee Ace – A scam from 2020 that defrauded 186 million dollars, promoting alleged profits from trading with a bot.
10. Prance Gold Holdings – Fake profits from arbitrage, mainly in the Asian market, losses reached 150 million dollars in 2020.
