Scammers stole $16.6 billion from victims last year
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Consumers lost more than $16 billion to scammers and cybercriminals last year, according to new FBI data published Wednesday.
Why it matters: That's a 33% increase from the total that people lost in 2023, indicating that scammers are getting better at tricking victims despite law enforcement, government and industry investments.
By the numbers: Nearly 860,000 people filed complaints about scams, fraud and other internet crimes in 2024, down from about 880,000 last year, per the FBI's latest internet crime report.
- Of those complaints, about 256,000 of them were tied to actual losses. The average victim lost $19,372 to these cyber crimes, according to the report.
The big picture: The annual report from the FBI's Internet Crime Center (also known as IC3) provides the best snapshot of the cyber threats facing everyday people.
- The FBI compiles the data based on reports to its own offices, as well as those to partner law enforcement organizations across the country and globally.
- Other reports typically rely on limited survey data or focus on experiences among one cybersecurity vendor's customer base.
What they're saying: "The criminals Americans face today may look different than in years past, but they still want the same thing: to harm Americans for their own benefit," Chad Yarbrough, the FBI's operations director for criminal and cyber, wrote in the report.
- "Without the information you report to us through IC3 or your local FBI Field Office, we simply cannot piece together the puzzle of this ever-shifting threat landscape."
Zoom in: Phishing, data extortion and personal data breaches topped the list of cyber crime reports in 2024.
- Victims filed about 193,000 complaints about phishing, 86,000 reports about ransomware and data extortion schemes and nearly 65,000 reports about personal data breaches.
- However, investment scams, business email compromise and tech support scams resulted in the biggest losses for victims.
- The FBI estimates people lost $6.5 billion to fake investment schemes, $2.7 billion to business email compromise and $1.4 billion to scammers posing as tech support agents.
- Complaints about ransomware also jumped 9% in 2024.
Threat level: More than 147,127 complaints were filed by people 60 and older, and scams against them amounted to $4.8 billion in losses.
- This marked a 43% increase in losses from 2023.
- The top complaints reported against seniors were phishing or spoofing, tech support, extortion and personal data breaches.
State of play: California, Texas and Florida led in number of complaints and amount of loss.
Reality check: Not all victims report crimes to the FBI out of fear and embarrassment, meaning these totals could be even higher.
