AUSTIN (KXAN) — Central Texas is a rising target for cryptocurrency theft, according to the FBI.
Nationally, reported cyber investment scams totaled more than $11 billion in losses.
KXAN's morning anchor Sally Hernandez talked with the Special Agent in Charge of the area FBI branch as he describes what he calls a "massive growth" in local cases.
Hernandez: Can you give me an example of what people are doing and how this has become a problem?
Special Agent in Charge: So the fraudsters will make contact via a dating site or social media platform. They'll spend however much time is needed developing trust with the victim. Eventually they'll bring up an investment and then at that point, they'll point the victim to a website that they own showing unrealistic gains on the investment. The victim will express interest, and the subjects will then tell the victim to go buy cryptocurrency and then send it to a wallet they own. And they'll continue doing that until the victim either stops or says, hey, I'd like to get my money back out. At that point, the subjects will use the opportunity to say, OK, well, there's a cash out fee or capital gains tax that you have to pay. And so they'll continue to exploit cash from these victims until they drain them dry.
Hernandez: You know, before we would see scams like this involving sending cash, you know, or a check or a credit card. What's the problem there?
Special Agent in Charge: So cryptocurrency is anonymous. It's very hard to trace it. You can wash cryptocurrency over and over again hiding your tracks. It's easy to send across international lines. There's not as many reporting requirements, and so it's just a perfect vehicle for fraudsters to take advantage of victims.
Hernandez: So next question is why Central Texas and then what are you doing to combat this?
Special Agent in Charge: So Central Texas, as with most parts, there's just a victim-rich environment and so the FBI is taking proactive steps. So we've got an operation where we are trying to identify fraudulent transactions in the crypto space. And so we've helped close to 3,800 victims stop transactions, which has gotten about $226 million back. And of those 3,800 victims, about 80% of them said they had no idea that they were being fraudulently targeted.
Hernandez: Thank you so much for joining us today.
The FBI urges everyone to "Take a Beat" to identify the red flags of a potential scam and contact your local FBI office or submit a complaint at ic3.gov as soon as possible.
Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KXAN Austin.