Americans experienced losses exceeding $12.5 billion due to fraud in 2024, marking a 25% increase compared to the previous year, according to data from the Federal Trade Commission.
Interestingly, this rise was not a result of more fraud reports, which held steady at approximately 2.6 million. Instead, the percentage of individuals who reported losing money to fraud or scams saw a significant increase. In 2023, 27% of those who reported a fraud incident stated that they lost money, while in 2024, this figure surged to 38%.
Investment scams were particularly damaging, accounting for nearly half of the total losses—amounting to $5.7 billion, which is a 24% rise from 2023. Imposter scams followed as the second highest source of reported losses, with consumers reporting a loss of $2.95 billion. Notably, losses stemming from government imposter scams rose by $171 million from 2023, reaching a total of $789 million in 2024.
In the realm of online shopping, issues related to purchases ranked as the second most frequently reported fraud category, while business and job opportunity scams also contributed significantly, totaling $750.6 million in reported losses—a nearly $250 million increase from the previous year.
For the second year running, email was the predominant method through which consumers reported being contacted by scammers. Phone calls ranked as the second most common method, followed by text messages.
In 2024, consumers reported incurring greater financial losses from scams involving bank transfers and cryptocurrency than from all other payment methods combined.