---
title: "Scam statistics 2026: latest official figures | TapSafely"
url: https://tapsafely.com/scam-statistics
source: TapSafely
description: "How much is lost to scams? The latest official figures from the FTC, FBI, UK Finance, the ACCC, the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre and more, with sources."
---

[Home](https://tapsafely.com/)/[Scam guides](https://tapsafely.com/scams/)/ Scam statistics

# Scam statistics 2026: the latest official figures

How much money do people lose to scams? The most recent official numbers from the US, the UK, Europe, Australia, Canada and worldwide, in one place, with a link to every source.

By the TapSafely editorial team · Updated 16 September 2026

## Key numbers

- Americans reported losing **$15.9 billion** to fraud in 2025, according to the FTC, up from over $12 billion the year before.
- The FBI's IC3 received **1,008,597** complaints with **$20.877 billion** in reported losses. People over 60 reported **$7.748 billion** of that.
- In the UK, **£1.28 billion** was stolen through payment fraud, and authorised push payment (APP) scam losses rose 19 per cent.
- Australians reported **A$2.18 billion** in scam losses; investment scams caused the most.
- Investment scams were the costliest category in the US, Australia and Canada.

These are **reported** losses. Most scams are never reported: the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre estimates only 5 to 10 per cent of frauds reach it. The real totals are much higher.

## United States: Federal Trade Commission

2025 data · Published 2026-03-25 · [FTC Testifies before the Joint Economic Committee on Agency's Efforts to Combat Fraud](https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2026/03/ftc-testifies-joint-economic-committee-agencys-efforts-combat-fraud)

|  |  |
| --- | --- |
| Reported fraud losses | **$15.9 billion** Reported to the FTC by consumers in 2025, up from over $12 billion the year before |
| Fraud reports | **3 million** Up from 2.6 million fraud reports the previous year |
| Top category by loss | **Investment scams: $7.9 billion** Consumers reported losing the most money to investment scams in 2025 |
| Most reported fraud | **Imposter scams: more than $3.5 billion lost** More than 1 million imposter scam reports; the most reported fraud since 2020 |
| Top contact method by loss | **Social media: $2.1 billion** Nearly 30% of people who reported losing money to a scam said it started on social media (FTC press release, April 27, 2026) [(source)](https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2026/04/new-ftc-data-show-people-have-lost-billions-social-media-scams) |

## United States: Federal Bureau of Investigation, Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3)

2025 data · Published 2026-04-06 · [2025 IC3 Annual Report (Internet Crime Report)](https://www.ic3.gov/AnnualReport/Reports/2025_IC3Report.pdf)

|  |  |
| --- | --- |
| Reported losses | **$20.877 billion** Losses reported to IC3 in 2025 |
| Complaints | **1,008,597** Up from 859,532 in 2024 |
| Top crime type by loss | **Investment fraud: $8,648,617,756** |
| Business email compromise losses | **$3,046,598,558** From 24,768 complaints |
| Cryptocurrency-related losses | **$11.366 billion** From 181,565 complaints involving cryptocurrency |
| Losses reported by people over 60 | **$7.748 billion** From 201,266 complaints; losses up 59% and complaints up 37% from 2024 |

## United Kingdom: UK Finance

2025 data · Published 2026-06-15 · [Annual Fraud Report 2026 (press release: Fraud remains a national security threat as criminals steal almost £1.3 billion)](https://www.ukfinance.org.uk/news-and-insight/press-release/fraud-report-2026-press-release)

|  |  |
| --- | --- |
| Total fraud losses | **£1.28 billion** Stolen through payment fraud in 2025, up four per cent |
| Unauthorised fraud losses | **£703.4 million** Down five per cent |
| APP scam losses | **£576.4 million** Authorised push payment fraud, up 19 per cent |
| Unauthorised fraud prevented | **£1.68 billion** Stopped by the banking industry before it could be stolen |
| Fraud cases | **3.81 million** Up 11 per cent |
| APP losses reimbursed | **£354.3 million** Equivalent to 61 per cent of APP losses |

## Australia: Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, National Anti-Scam Centre

2025 data · Published 2026-03-30 · [Targeting scams: report of the National Anti-Scam Centre on scams data and activity 2025 (media release: Continued action critical to combat fraud as annual scam losses exceed $2 billion)](https://www.accc.gov.au/media-release/continued-action-critical-to-combat-fraud-as-annual-scam-losses-exceed-2-billion)

|  |  |
| --- | --- |
| Reported scam losses | **$2.18 billion** Australian dollars; losses up 7.8 per cent compared with 2024 |
| Scam reports | **481,523** Combined total across reporting agencies in 2025 |
| Reports with a financial loss | **274,577** |
| Top scam type by loss | **Investment scams: $837.7m** Australian dollars |
| Share of losses by people aged 65 and over | **26.5 per cent** This age group is about 17.1 per cent of the population |

## Canada: Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre

2025 data · Published 2026-03-06 · [Fraud Prevention Month to bring hidden crime into the spotlight](https://antifraudcentre-centreantifraude.ca/news-nouvelles/2026/2026-03-06-eng.htm)

|  |  |
| --- | --- |
| Reported fraud losses | **over $704 million** Canadian dollars, lost to fraud in 2025 |
| Fraud reports | **over 112,000** Received by the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre in 2025 (Fraud Prevention Month 2026 page) [(source)](https://antifraudcentre-centreantifraude.ca/features-vedette/2026/02/month-prevention-mois-eng.htm) |
| Share of frauds reported | **only 5% to 10%** Most fraud goes unreported, so real losses are far higher |
| Reported losses since 2022 | **surpassing $2.4 billion** Canadian dollars |
| Top fraud types by financial impact | **Investment fraud, romance fraud and job fraud** |

## Global: Global Anti-Scam Alliance (GASA)

2025 data · Published 2025-10-07 · [Global State of Scams Report 2025](https://gasa.org/knowledge-base/blog/gasa-policy-agenda-2026)

|  |  |
| --- | --- |
| Estimated scam losses | **$442 billion** Estimated losses across the 42 countries surveyed, based on a consumer survey |
| Adults who lost money to scams | **23%** Of 46,000 people surveyed, in the past year |
| Adults who experienced a scam | **57 percent** Share of adults worldwide (GASA and Feedzai launch post, October 7, 2025) [(source)](https://gasa.org/knowledge-base/blog/global-scams-on-the-rise-over-half-of-adults-worldwide-report-scam-encounters) |
| Survey size | **46,000 adults across 42 markets** |

## Europe (EEA): European Central Bank and European Banking Authority

2024 data (latest available) · Published 2025-12-15 · [Joint EBA-ECB report on payment fraud: strong authentication remains effective but fraudsters are adapting](https://www.ecb.europa.eu/press/pr/date/2025/html/ecb.pr251215~e133d9d683.en.html)

|  |  |
| --- | --- |
| Payment fraud value | **€4.2 billion** Total payment fraud in the EEA in 2024, up from €3.5 billion in 2023 |
| Credit transfer fraud | **€2.2 billion** 2024, a 16% year on year increase |
| Credit transfer losses borne by users | **approximately 85%** Share of credit transfer fraud losses borne by payment service users in 2024 |
| Card fraud outside the EEA | **17 times higher** Card payment fraud when the recipient was outside the EEA, where strong authentication is not legally required |

## What the numbers mean for you

- **Investment and crypto scams take the most money.** Be very wary of any investment you found through social media, a dating app or a stranger. [How investment scams work](https://tapsafely.com/scams/crypto-investment-scams).
- **Impersonation is the most common trick.** Scammers pretend to be banks, delivery firms, government agencies and family. [See how to spot fake brand messages](https://tapsafely.com/scams/brands).
- **Social media is a major starting point.** In the US, social media was the contact method with the highest reported losses.
- **Older adults are hit hard.** In the US, people over 60 reported $7.748 billion in losses to the FBI in a single year. Talk to parents and grandparents about scams, and set up a [family safe word](https://tapsafely.com/family-safe-word).

## About these figures

We only use figures published by the official source itself, copied exactly, with currencies as published. Different organisations count different things (reported consumer fraud, internet crime complaints, payment fraud), so the numbers can't simply be added together. 2025 data is used where it has been published; where a source has not published 2025 figures yet, we show its latest report and say so. The global figure from the Global Anti-Scam Alliance is a survey-based estimate, not a count of reports.

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## Questions

How much money is lost to scams each year?

In 2025, Americans reported $15.9 billion in fraud losses to the FTC, and the FBI's IC3 recorded $20.877 billion in reported internet crime losses. The Global Anti-Scam Alliance estimates $442 billion was lost across the 42 countries in its survey. Because most scams are never reported, real losses are higher.

What type of scam causes the biggest losses?

Investment scams. They were the top category by reported loss for the FTC and the FBI in the US, and the top scam type by loss in Australia. In Canada, investment fraud also caused the biggest losses.

How many people are scammed?

In the Global Anti-Scam Alliance survey of 46,000 adults in 42 markets, 23% said they had lost money to a scam in the past year.