A mid‑February Chainalysis analysis, reported by WIRED, found crypto‑scam revenue ballooned in 2025 to roughly $17 billion and tracked an approximately 85% year‑over‑year rise in crypto payments linked to human‑trafficking and forced‑labour networks. Analysts blamed generative AI, impersonation tactics, stablecoins, and Telegram marketplaces for enabling scale. The report warns illicit networks are increasingly integrated with scam compounds that both defraud victims and launder proceeds.

Chainalysis’s mid‑February analysis, summarized in WIRED and in Chainalysis updates, documents a sharp escalation in crypto‑enabled criminality in 2025. The firm estimates overall crypto‑scam revenues reached roughly the high‑billions—industry reporting cites about $17 billion for the year—and separately flagged an ~85% year‑over‑year increase in tracked crypto payments tied to human‑trafficking and forced‑labour operations that run scam compounds. Analysts identify multiple enablers: generative AI and impersonation tools lower the marginal cost of personalized scams, while stablecoins and Telegram “guarantee” markets accelerate fund movement and payout mechanics. The analysis details how coordinated networks use fake investment pitches, romance lures, and automated social engineering to route proceeds through mixers, centralized on‑ramps, and peer‑to‑peer exchanges. Chainalysis emphasizes the intersection of cyberfraud and physical exploitation, noting that proceeds fund compound operations that recruit and coerce victims into ongoing fraud. The report calls for enhanced private‑public information sharing, stronger stablecoin and messaging‑platform controls, and cross‑border enforcement to disrupt financing chains.