Americans lose $21B online in 2025 as AI-powered scams surge
What's the story
The FBI's latest Internet Crime Report has revealed a staggering $21 billion loss due to online scams in 2025. This is a significant jump from the $16.6 billion reported in 2024. The report is based on over a million complaints received by the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3). Phishing and spoofing were the most common types of cyber crimes last year, with over 191,000 complaints filed.
Scam surge
Elderly people most susceptible to online scams
The report highlights that people over 60 are the most susceptible to online scams. Elder fraud accounted for over 201,000 complaints and $7.75 billion in losses last year. This is a whopping 37% increase from 2024, with an average loss of $38,500 per victim. The FBI also received over 181,000 cryptocurrency-related complaints last year, with investment scams accounting for the largest share of losses among US citizens.
Tech exploitation
AI scams on the rise
The report notes that the rise of advanced AI systems has made it harder to detect scams. Last year, there were over 22,000 AI-related complaints resulting in losses of nearly $893 million. These include confidence/romance scams and grandparent or "distress" scams where AI voice cloning is used to impersonate a relative in danger. The National Consumer League also recently reported that AI has more than doubled average financial losses year over year.
Crime prevention
FBI's initiatives to combat online scams
The FBI's IC3 Recovery Asset Team has frozen $679 million in assets out of an attempted theft of $1.2 billion, achieving a 58% success rate. The agency has also formed a new Scam Center Strike Force to combat cryptocurrency investment fraud by identifying the masterminds behind these scams in Southeast Asia. Other initiatives include Operation Level Up, which uncovers scams and informs victims about them.