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How Criminals Are Targeting Crypto Investors in 2025: AI Romance Scams & Rising Kidnappings
Key Insights
The year has only begun, and scammers are ramping up their efforts.
This week, malicious actors are reportedly using advanced tactics, such as AI and deepfakes, to exploit thousands of victims.
Here are some of the freshest of these cases, ranging from international romance scams to crypto-targeted kidnappings.
Hong Kong Police Uncover Deepfake-Driven Romance Scams
According to reports from the South China Morning Post, Hong Kong Police dismantled a massive crime syndicate throughout Asia.
The criminals involved in the syndicate allegedly used deepfake images to scam their victims and rob them of their hard-earned money.
Said perpetrators reportedly posed as rich single women who didn't exist at all and had expensive hobbies like learning Japanese, playing golf, and sampling expensive wines worth over HK$100,000 ($12,850) per bottle.
The operation involved 31 individuals arrested with notebooks detailing step-by-step strategies for scamming victims.
The syndicate also reportedly employed young people seeking quick money into their scams.
So far, these social engineering scams have been a huge challenge for investigators, and AI has made their efforts more convincing.
Deepfake tech also makes it incredibly easy to execute more elaborate scams. This technology has been used in the past, to impersonate prominent figures, including Apple's Tim Cook, Tesla's Elon Musk, and even FTX's Sam Bankman-Fried at some point.
Per reports, these scammers mainly targeted victims in Taiwan, Singapore, and Malaysia after using these “rich women” personas to build trust and then introduce the scams to their victims.
Despite the growing menace of these crimes, many law enforcement agencies still lack the tools to track stolen Crypto or collaborate internationally to recover funds.
The State of Crypto Kidnappings
On the other end of the world, physical crimes are more prevalent than virtual ones, with Crypto Kidnappings being on the rise.
One of the most recent cases happened in Canada, as a Canadian Crypto forum moderator reported being targeted by kidnappers.
According to reports from Canadian French-language news outlet La Presse, these kidnappers targeted the unidentified moderator because they believed that he held a large amount of Bitcoin.
The attackers, who “had equipment to torture him,” attempted to abduct their victim before he thankfully escaped with his children.
So far, Police have arrested four suspects, with two of them released under house arrest.
La Presse reports that the kidnappers allegedly misunderstood his role as a forum moderator and assumed that he had millions in Bitcoin when he only owned a fraction in reality.
Global Incidents of Crypto-Related Violence
The Canadian case is only part of a larger pattern of crypto-related crimes from all over the world, including kidnappings and robbery.
For example, French Police rescued a man who was tied up in a car trunk, doused in petrol, and driven miles across the country after his abductors demanded ransom from his crypto-influencer son in Dubai.
In Belgium, the wife of a Crypto influencer was kidnapped on Christmas Eve, and there were reports from Pakistan about a Crypto trader who was abducted and forced to transfer $340,000 at gunpoint.
According to Jameson Lopp’s list of crypto-related crimes, around 181 occurred between 2014 and 2024.
All of the above shows the apparent risks of shady P2P transactions and flaunting Crypto wealth on or off the internet.
Mitigating Risks in the Crypto Space
Crypto-related crimes are clearly on the rise worldwide and have been so in the last decade.
Some of the best ways to avoid becoming a victim include avoiding public displays of wealth.
Individuals should refrain from flaunting their Crypto holdings on social media or wearing crypto-branded clothing that could draw attention.
Traders should limit peer-to-peer trades with unknown individuals, and everyone should minimize the information they make public about their crypto activities.
Collaboration and Education Are Key
Law enforcement agents have stressed the importance of collaboration between international agencies.
The need for advanced tools to combat these crimes can also not be overstated.
While some law enforcement agencies are making strides to mitigate these issues, several others still lack the expertise to trace stolen Crypto or address the problems with AI scams.
As technology becomes more advanced, the need for protecting individuals becomes more apparent.
In the long run, better education and international cooperation will remain crucial to keeping the Crypto community safe and welcoming for all.
Disclaimer: Voice of Crypto aims to deliver accurate and up-to-date information but will not be responsible for any missing facts or inaccurate information. Cryptocurrencies are highly volatile financial assets, so research and make your own financial decisions.