The cryptocurrency exchange MEXC has released a report detailing a significant rise in fraud cases on its platform in the first quarter of 2025. Compared to the fourth quarter of 2024, the number of detected fraudulent incidents increased by 200%, reaching 80,057 attempts.
This is reported by Finway
Types of Fraud and Geography
According to the report, the highest number of fraudulent activities was observed in India, where approximately 27,000 accounts were blocked. Following India are the CIS countries with 6,404 blocked accounts and Indonesia with 5,603 accounts, with the rate in Indonesia increasing by 1,303% over the quarter.
MEXC specialists identified around 3,000 fraudulent groups engaged in coordinated trading for money laundering, market manipulation, the use of automated bot networks, and other illegal schemes.
Reasons for the Increase and New Forms of Fraud
The company believes that the sharp rise in incidents is linked to the insufficient level of financial literacy among users, making them easy targets for malicious actors. Additional factors include low fees on the platform and proactive listing of new tokens, which attract the attention of fraudsters.
“While 2021 was marked by hacks in the DeFi sector, 2025 is increasingly characterized by market manipulation using social engineering. We are seeing a growing number of so-called ‘educational’ trading groups, which apparently represent coordinated efforts to deceive users,” said the exchange’s CEO, Tracy Jin.
The document also notes that malicious actors often use viral campaigns and engage third-party influencers to spread fake investment advice. They disguise themselves as financial experts, increasing the vulnerability of new users to coordinated manipulations that are presented as investment strategies.
In recent months, industry experts have noted a general increase in losses from hacking attacks in the crypto sphere. In May 2025, the total losses from hacks in the industry reached $244.1 million.