What happened?
AI and generative tools have made crypto scams far more convincing and easier to scale. Reports of AI-enabled scams jumped dramatically, and analytics firms say a large share of scam deposits are now driven by AI tactics. Scammers are using deepfakes, voice cloning, fake sites, bots and prompt-injection attacks to trick people and even take control of wallets.
Who does this affect?
Anyone active in crypto is at risk, but newcomers are especially vulnerable to these realistic, AI-driven scams. Wealthy individuals and institutions face more targeted and sophisticated attacks, while everyday users can be tricked by fake live streams or cloned profiles. Crypto platforms, wallet providers and AI-agent developers are also exposed because attackers exploit integrations and shared payment infrastructure.
Why does this matter?
This trend erodes trust in the market and could slow user adoption as people become more wary of investing or using crypto services. Large losses and stolen funds increase volatility and can distort on-chain activity, hurting token prices and trading volumes. It also pushes projects, exchanges and regulators to spend more on security and compliance, raising costs but creating demand for fraud-detection solutions.