Just a few years ago, tech-enabled fraud looked like a set of isolated schemes: fake websites, poorly written emails, primitive “investment offers.” In 2025, that era officially ended.
Today, AI scams are a full-fledged, streamlined industry.
According to analysts, in 2025 the number of AI-driven fraud schemes grew by more than 500%. These are no longer isolated attacks or manual operations. These are scalable operations that can be launched simultaneously across dozens of countries, in multiple languages, with minimal costs.
Why AI was the tipping point
Large language models changed the economics of deception. The same scenario can be easily adapted to any language or cultural context. Victim “personalization” is now automated, and the cost of launching a new scheme approaches zero. AI can write convincing text, hold conversations, respond to objections, and adjust to human emotions. Where once a call center and dozens of operators were needed, now a single model with the right prompt is enough.
Deepfakes and identity cloning
Another factor is the drastic reduction in the cost of trust. Deepfakes, voice cloning, and AI avatars have turned plausibility into a mass-produced commodity. Now, a “company director,” “relative,” “investor,” or “official” can be generated in minutes and appear more convincing than real people in a video call.
The result is clear: fraud has become faster, larger-scale, and psychologically more accurate than ever before. Users cannot adapt quickly enough, regulators cannot react in time.
Cryptocurrencies as the primary fraud vehicle
In 2025, scammers moved around $35 billion in cryptocurrencies — and that’s only the portion that could be tracked.
The overall picture
The volume of illegal crypto operations reached a record $158 billion, almost 145% more than in 2024. Yet, the share of illegal transactions relative to total turnover decreased from 1.3% to 1.2%. At first glance — a paradox. In reality — an important signal.
Why the share falls while the problem grows
The crypto market overall grew significantly, but the absolute volume of criminal activity is growing faster than the system’s ability to contain it. TRM proposed a more precise metric — the share of available liquidity captured by illegal structures. In 2025, it was 2.7%. This means criminal networks are not just present on the blockchain; they use it as a full-fledged financial infrastructure.
Sanctions, states, and crypto infrastructure
In 2025, sanction-related activity was almost entirely tied to Russia-related flows. A key role was played by the ruble stablecoin A7A5, which handled over $72 billion in volume. A wallet cluster connected to the A7 sanctions-evading network moved at least $39 billion over the year. This is not mass market use, but concentrated, coordinated activity related to sanction circumvention and state-oriented financial infrastructure.
Hacks and thefts
In 2025, roughly 150 hacks were recorded — fewer than the previous year. Total losses amounted to $2.87 billion. More than half of this sum came from a single incident — the $1.46 billion Bybit hack. This reflects a new trend: fewer attacks, but larger, more precise, and better prepared.
Geopolitics and criminal networks
Cryptocurrencies have finally ceased to be peripheral tools. Iran and Venezuela used crypto infrastructure for sanctioned payments and financial services. Chinese-speaking escrow and laundering networks processed over $100 billion, acting not as state projects but as critical infrastructure for global illicit markets.
Key takeaway
The crypto environment in 2025 is not exotic nor a niche for enthusiasts — it is an integrated part of the global financial system. Regulators, ordinary users, governments, and criminal organizations operate in the same space. Increasing crypto literacy has improved detection of illegal activity, but it has also allowed far greater flows of value, including illicit ones.
AI has merely accelerated this process.
Summary
AI fraud is no longer a side effect of technology. It is a sustainable business model built into the digital economy. The key question for the coming years is not how to ban it, but who scales faster: the protection systems or the fraud industry.
All content provided on this website (https://wildinwest.com/) -including attachments, links, or referenced materials — is for informative and entertainment purposes only and should not be considered as financial advice. Third-party materials remain the property of their respective owners.