From Silicon Valley to Mumbai: Data Reveals the Borderless Truth of On-Chain Fraud

Written by: Mars_DeFi

Compiled by: Chopper, Foresight News

Original title: The geographical map of crypto scams: From Silicon Valley to Mumbai, scams know no borders.

In the early stages of cryptocurrency development, many believed that fraud was an inevitable cost of innovation, and that “project runaways” or “exit scams” were limited to a few lawless individuals in the unregulated corners of the internet.

But years have passed, and independent investigative reporters like ZachXBT have gradually uncovered a disturbing truth: cryptocurrency scams have long since become global.

Between 2022 and 2025 alone, ZachXBT recorded 118 different types of financial fraud cases, ranging from multi-million dollar NFT rug pulls to complex cross-chain money laundering networks. His investigation reports revealed scammers across continents: from Memecoin projects endorsed by Silicon Valley influencers to Telegram scam gangs in Mumbai, and pump-and-dump groups in Istanbul.

The consistency presented by the data is shocking: no country or region is immune to the harm caused by scammers.

The Myth of Regional Scammers

The recently added location display feature on the social platform X was intended to enhance transparency but has sparked discussions related to xenophobia.

Many users have started to attack others based on the country of origin of their accounts, especially targeting accounts related to India, Nigeria, and Russia, labeling the entire populations of these countries as “scammers.”

But ZachXBT's investigation tells a completely different story. Here is a brief summary of ZachXBT's investigation data over the past three years:

In 118 verified fraud cases:

• About 41% comes from Asia (India, China, Southeast Asia)
• About 28% comes from North America
• About 15% comes from Europe
• About 10% involve Africa
• About 6% due to mixers or privacy coins being untraceable, identity anonymous

The regional distribution of fraudsters in these 118 reports is also worth noting:

Distribution of cryptocurrency scammers identified by ZachXBT

What the data reveals is not a problem in a particular region, but a moral deficiency that exists globally.

The above data reveals a key fact that is often overlooked in online discussions: although Africans (especially Nigerians) are frequently and unjustly labeled as cryptocurrency scammers, the reality is quite the opposite.

This indicates that cryptocurrency scams are not limited to a specific region, but are a global issue that crosses borders, languages, and cultures.

A Macroscopic View on Cryptocurrency Scams

1. The country with the highest amount stolen per victim from January 2025 to June 2025.

For those who blindly criticize Nigeria or India, the first chart is shocking enough. The top 10 countries with the highest average amount stolen per individual victim are:

• UAE —— Approximately $78,000
• United States —— Approximately $77,000
• Chile — about 52,000 USD
• India —— approximately 51,000 USD
• Lithuania —— about 38,000 USD
• Japan —— Approximately 26,000 USD
• Iran —— about 25,000 USD
• Israel —— approximately $12,000
• Norway —— about 12,000 USD
• Germany —— About 11,000 USD

Have you noticed? Nigeria is not on this list at all, while the UAE, the United States, multiple European countries, and several Asian countries are prominently included.

If those stereotypes were true, the top of this list should be Nigeria or India, but that is not the case.

2. Global Wallet Victim Situation Map (2022-2025)

When we expand our perspective to the total number of global victims, the geographical distribution becomes clearer. Victims are spread across North America, South America, Europe, the Middle East and North Africa, and Asia.

The regions with a higher number of victims include: Western Europe and Eastern Europe, North America, parts of Asia, the Middle East, and North Africa.

So what about Africa? Compared to Europe, America, and Asia, the total number of victim wallets in Africa is much smaller. This is not my subjective judgment, but an objective fact presented by the map.

3. The regions with the fastest growth of cryptocurrency scam victims (2024 - 2025 year-on-year)

The third chart shows the regions where the growth of scams is the most rapid, with the year-on-year growth rate of victims in each region being:

• Eastern Europe - approximately 380%
• Middle East and North Africa - approximately 300%
• Central Asia / South Asia and Oceania —— approximately 270%
• North America — approximately 230%
• Latin America - about 200%
• Asia-Pacific Region - Approximately 140%
• Europe (overall) - approximately 120%
• Sub-Saharan Africa — Approximately 100%

Once again, it is emphasized that Africa's growth rate ranks at the bottom. Meanwhile:

• The number of victims in Europe and the Middle East and North Africa region is the highest globally.
• North America and Latin America follow closely behind
• The Asia-Pacific region and the area where India is located are at a medium level.
• Africa is the least affected region in the entire dataset.

If Nigeria is the global scam center, Africa would never be at the bottom of this ranking.

The truth is: cryptocurrency scams are not just a problem in Nigeria or India, but a global issue.

The data completely shattered the stereotypes:

• The country with the highest amount stolen from a single victim is neither in Africa nor India.
• The regions with the fastest growth in scams are not in Africa or India.
• The year-on-year growth rate of victims in Africa is the lowest.

So, why are Nigerians and Indians unfairly labeled as “scammers”? Because people often judge based on emotions rather than evidence; because a viral scam in a certain region can become a collective label for 200 million people, and the spread of online prejudice is much faster than the truth.

According to the data:

• Nigeria is not one of the high-loss countries.
• The number of African scam victims has the lowest increase.
• The statistics in Europe and North America are worse.
• Asian regions such as the UAE and India are facing extremely high-value theft cases.

If a certain area has the most scammers, then the situation of victims in that area will also be very serious (scammers operate in places they are familiar with). However, Africa and India do not exhibit this pattern at all.

If Nigerians and Indians generalized like others, they could easily point their fingers at Europe, the United States, South America, the Middle East, and North Africa.

But they did not do so, because responsible people understand: scammers are everywhere — present in every race, every region, every country; scam victims are also spread across the globe; no ethnic group should be labeled because of the actions of a few criminals.

Recently, posts criticizing “Indian scammers” by @TheQuartering and others (x.com/TheQuartering/status/1992098997281194375) fully demonstrate how xenophobia exploits people's real suffering. Depicting an entire country or community as criminals only exacerbates the harm.

ZachXBT's investigation also revealed the fraudulent activities of a U.S. YouTuber, a European DeFi developer, and an Asian marketing group. Cryptocurrency scams are not determined by nationality, but are the result of unrestrained anonymity, greed, and regulatory indifference.

How can we do better?

For cryptocurrencies to mature, they need not only regulation but also a collective moral reconstruction. This can be approached from the following aspects:

• Replace nationality bias with transparency: Require project founders to undergo public audits, complete KYC, and disclose on-chain information, rather than making judgments based on nationality.
• Support investigative journalism: Investigators like ZachXBT and small detective communities have helped prevent potential losses of millions of dollars. We should spread their work results rather than nationalist noise.
• Always remain cautious: Treat every project as a potential scam until its reliability is proven.
• Report rather than ridicule: When you find a suspicious account, use verification channels or reporting resources instead of spreading hate.

Summary

Cryptocurrency was born from ideals of decentralization and freedom, but in the absence of accountability mechanisms, these ideals have been distorted into a global tool of exploitation. Every region has its scammers, and every region has its victims. Let's stop the “on-chain xenophobia.”