America’s scam economy is costing households an estimated $1,009 a year
Americans’ true losses to online scams and other internet crimes may have reached $148.2 billion in 2025, the Consumer Federation of America estimates.
Online scams are no longer merely a collection of isolated frauds. They have grown into a sprawling economy that may be costing the average U.S. household more than $1,000 a year.
That is the conclusion of an updated Consumer Federation of America report, which estimates that Americans lost $148.2 billion to internet scams and crimes in 2025 — nearly 26% more than a year earlier.
The estimate is far higher than the $20.88 billion reported to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center, or IC3, because most victims never tell law enforcement what happened.
CFA estimates the “true cost” by multiplying reported losses by 7.1, based on Justice Department research indicating that only about 14% of financial-fraud victims report their losses to police or other law-enforcement authorities.
Using that methodology, CFA calculated an average annual loss of $1,009 for every U.S. household. The figure does not mean every household directly lost that amount; it spreads the estimated national cost across all households to illustrate the scale of the problem.
Reported losses have tripled since 2021
IC3 received more than 1 million complaints in 2025, an increase of 17.3% from 2024. Reported losses rose 25.8%, from $16.6 billion to nearly $20.9 billion.
Annual reported losses have now tripled since 2021, according to the CFA analysis.
Cyber-enabled fraud — the category that includes most online investment, impersonation, romance, business-email and tech-support scams — accounted for about 85% of the losses reported to IC3.
CFA said the figures point to an industrialized system in which criminals can cheaply locate targets, buy advertising, impersonate trusted organizations and move stolen money through payment apps, bank transfers and cryptocurrency.
“The troubling trend of rapidly increasing scam losses continues while tech companies are too often allowed to avoid accountability,” said Ben Winters, CFA’s director of AI and privacy.
Crypto involved in more than half of losses
Cryptocurrency was involved in $11.4 billion of the reported losses, up nearly 22% from 2024.
After applying its underreporting estimate, CFA put the potential true cost of crypto-related fraud at approximately $80.7 billion.
Cryptocurrency is especially attractive to scammers because transfers can be rapid, difficult to reverse and routed through multiple wallets or overseas exchanges.
Consumers may be directed to buy crypto at an ATM, transfer money to a wallet controlled by the criminal or invest through an impressive-looking website that displays fictional account balances and profits.
Any stranger who insists that a bill, investment, government fine or emergency payment must be handled with cryptocurrency should be treated as a scammer.
Investment scams cause the greatest losses
Investment fraud was the costliest cyber-enabled category in the report, producing nearly $8.65 billion in reported losses. CFA estimated its true cost at more than $61 billion.
Other leading categories included:
| Scam category | Reported 2025 losses | CFA estimated true cost |
|---|---|---|
| Investment fraud | $8.65 billion | $61.41 billion |
| Business email compromise | $3.05 billion | $21.63 billion |
| Tech-support scams | $2.13 billion | $15.16 billion |
| Romance and confidence scams | $929 million | $6.60 billion |
| Government impersonation | $798 million | $5.67 billion |
Government-impersonation losses grew the fastest among the five categories, rising nearly 97% from 2024. Tech-support losses increased almost 46%, while romance-scam losses rose approximately 38%.
Compromised business email often targets companies, nonprofits, real-estate transactions and individuals paying large invoices. Criminals may take over or closely imitate a legitimate email account and send new wiring instructions that divert the payment.
Older adults lose the most — but young people are catching up
People age 60 and older remained the most heavily targeted group, reporting nearly $7.75 billion in losses.
Their reported losses rose 61% in one year, with an average reported loss of approximately $38,500 per complaint. CFA estimated the group’s true losses at roughly $55 billion.
Younger people were not immune. Reported losses among people under 20 were comparatively small at $67 million, but that represented a 198% increase from 2024.
The findings challenge the idea that scam vulnerability is limited to older or technologically inexperienced consumers. Younger victims may be targeted through gaming, social media, fake jobs, online marketplaces and cryptocurrency promotions, while older adults are more likely to be approached with investment, tech-support, government or family-emergency stories.
AI makes impersonation easier
For the first time, IC3 separately tracked crimes involving artificial intelligence.
It recorded 22,364 complaints and $893 million in reported losses connected to AI-enabled crime. Applying its multiplier, CFA estimated the true cost at $6.3 billion.
AI tools can help criminals create realistic photos, fake social-media accounts, personalized messages and cloned voices. They can also automate conversations, allowing a criminal operation to approach thousands of potential victims at once.
The technology does not necessarily create an entirely new scam. More often, it makes familiar schemes — romance fraud, family emergencies, investment pitches and business impersonation — faster, cheaper and more believable.
Facebook and direct messages remain central
CFA said social-media platforms continue to play a central role in distributing scam advertisements and connecting criminals with potential victims.
Citing Better Business Bureau data, the report said Facebook was associated with 57% of scams involving an identified online platform, followed by Instagram at 22% and WhatsApp at 8%. All three are owned by Meta.
Separately, the Global Anti-Scam Alliance found that 81% of U.S. scam attempts occurred on platforms offering direct messaging.
An AP-NORC poll cited by CFA found that 58% of adults receive a suspected scam attempt every day, with Facebook named more frequently than any other platform.
CFA has sued Meta, alleging that the company failed to adequately protect users from fraudulent advertising. Meta has previously said it removes scam content, cooperates with law enforcement and invests heavily in fraud detection.
Consumer advocates argue that warning users is not enough. They want platforms to verify advertisers, quickly remove repeat offenders and bear greater responsibility when they profit from placing fraudulent ads.
Bipartisan legislation known as the SCAM Act has been introduced in Congress to impose advertiser-verification and fraud-response requirements on online platforms. Similar proposals are moving at the state level.
James R. Hood
How consumers can reduce their risk
Most successful scams create urgency and try to prevent the target from consulting anyone else. A pause is often the best defense.
Consumers should independently contact the company, government agency or family member supposedly requesting money. Do not use a phone number, email address or link supplied in the suspicious message.
Be especially cautious when anyone requests payment through cryptocurrency, gift cards, wire transfers, cash couriers or person-to-person payment apps. Those methods offer few opportunities to recover the money.
Before making an investment, check the seller or adviser through federal and state securities regulators. Search the company name along with terms such as “complaint,” “fraud” and “scam,” but remember that criminals can also plant fake positive reviews.
Families may also establish a private verification word to use during supposed emergencies. A caller who sounds like a child or grandchild should still be asked for the word or verified through a second relative.
Consumers who believe they have been defrauded should immediately contact the financial institution or payment service involved. Rapid reporting may allow a bank to stop or recall a transfer.
They should also report the incident to the FBI’s IC3, the Federal Trade Commission and local police. Reporting will not always recover the money, but it can help investigators connect related cases and identify accounts being used to receive stolen funds.
The bottom line
The CFA estimate is not a direct count of every stolen dollar. It is a projection based on reported FBI losses and an assumed 14% reporting rate.
But even the confirmed total — nearly $21 billion — shows that online fraud has become a major source of household financial loss.
The report’s larger message is that consumers cannot solve the problem solely by becoming more skeptical. The platforms, payment systems, financial institutions and advertisers that make mass-scale fraud possible will also have to make it harder for criminals to reach victims and move their money.
