A recent Chainalysis report revealed that crypto scammers have updated their scheme tactics on- and off-chain in 2024. Criminals have leaned toward short-term, more lucrative scrams targeting smaller entities and specific individuals, significantly reducing scams’ average lifespan by over 50% since 2023.
Crypto Scamming Landscape Shifts In 2024
On Thursday, Chainalysis’ 2024 Crypto Crime Mid-Year Update revealed that scammers have significantly changed the strategies for their crime campaigns. Per the report, scams related to digital assets have continued to grow this year with several billion in inflows, becoming one of the largest sectors with illicit activity year-to-date (YTD).
In 2024, the scammers have rapidly evolved their on-chain footprint and off-chain tools to take advantage of investors. Their recent activity revealed that crypto-related criminals are pivoting toward “more devastating scams of shorter duration” to reduce the chances of being busted.
To achieve this, scammers have opted to carry out and renew several smaller, simultaneous campaigns “that keep larger organized scam syndicates going.” Additionally, the report noted that a new trend seems to be developing in the scam landscape.
Newly created wallets' share of scam inflows surges in 2024. Source: Chainalysis
A significant percentage of the YTD scam inflows have gone to wallets created in 2024, with 43% of the ill-gotten revenue going to these addresses. Comparatively, the second-highest year when this occurred was 2022, which saw 29.9% of total YTD flows move to wallets that became active the same year. Despite this, around 57% of YTD scam inflows are still going to wallets created before 2024.
Scams Average Lifespan Reduces
The new trend also suggested a decline in the lifespan of crypto scams. According to Chainalysis, between 2020 and 2024 YTD, the average number of active scam days significantly decreased.
While scams lasted around 271 days four years ago, in 2024, their lifespan averages 42 days since they began. The lifespan reduction represents an 84% and 58% decrease since 2020 and 2023 respectively.
Average scam lifespan since 2020. Source: Chainalysis
This macrotrend seems to be consistent with scammer’s pivot from “elaborate Ponzi schemes that cast a wide net to more targeted campaigns like pig butchering or address poisoning.”
One of the largest wallets associated with crypto scamming throughout the year consolidates the funds from several schemes operating out of KK Park, Myanmar’s most prominent pig butchering group.
The report revealed that KK Park’s wallet has bagged over $100 million in 2024. While this number seems to come from different types of crimes, a significant amount comes from pig butchering scam victims.
Chainalysis also noted that pig butchering compounds, including KK Park, have upgraded their tactics to adapt their off-chain presence. In 2024, scammers purchase seasoned social media accounts for their schemes.
The criminals now use older, legit-looking profiles to deceive their victims, which has sparked a surge in activity for marketplaces offering these accounts. The price for these social media accounts ranges from $5 to $20 per account.
These shops saw a steady increase in their received crypto in the last two years, receiving around $10.5 million in inflows from 2022 to 2024, which suggests scammers might have acquired between 525,000 and 2.1 million profiles since 2022.
Total crypto market capitalization is at $2.09 trillion in the weekly chart. Source: TOTAL on TradingView