EZ-Pass Final Reminder: You have unpaid tolls. Such text messages, which are all too familiar to many Americans, are largely behind a Chinese-backed criminal network. According to statistics, these scammers are using cryptocurrencies to steal a record $17 billion from ordinary people Chainaanalysis’ latest report.
The seriousness of this fraud has attracted the attention of the US government. On Wednesday, Jacqueline Burns Koven, director of cyber threat intelligence at Chainaanalysis, said: speaking before the senate About the rise in this criminal activity and how the United States is combating it. she witness The title is “Made in China, Seniors Pay: Stopping Surge in International Scams.”
“Scams leveraging cryptocurrencies have had a record year in terms of revenue,” Burns Koven said in an interview. wealth. “Chinese fraud syndicates are the market leaders in criminal fintech. They have been doing this for a long time.”
The report states that the amount received in crypto scams is estimated at $17 billion, an increase of approximately 30% from last year. These operations are becoming increasingly sophisticated and include deepfakes generated using artificial intelligence. Cryptocurrency is an important part of the operation, as criminals often use digital currencies to fund their scams, such as purchasing tools such as SMS phishing kits.
Criminals rely heavily on impersonation techniques, where they impersonate legitimate organizations to force victims to make digital payments. The most famous example is the EZ-Pass phishing campaign, which targeted millions of Americans. The operation was traced to a Chinese-speaking criminal organization called “Darcula” that also has a history of impersonating the U.S. Postal Service.
Burns Koven said that while 2025 also saw a record number of cryptocurrency seizures by law enforcement, government and industry responses remained fragmented and reactive. Just as criminals use advanced technology to perpetrate fraud, both the public and private sectors can use artificial intelligence to stop these messages from appearing on people’s phones. Additionally, because criminals use cryptocurrencies to facilitate these scams, and because these transactions are public on the blockchain, it is easier to identify criminal networks and disrupt the activity.
“Scammers are taking advantage of the disconnect and reactive responses in the public and private sectors,” she said. “We need to use advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence to prevent fraud and prevent people from being exposed to such scams in the first place.”
Fraud often never sleeps, but these criminal networks in China do take breaks. Chainaanalysis and other researchers found that crime decreased during the Lunar New Year and other public holidays in China.