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
| 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) |
United States: Federal Bureau of Investigation, Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3)
2025 data · Published 2026-04-06 · 2025 IC3 Annual Report (Internet Crime Report)
| 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)
| 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)
| 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
| 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) |
| 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
| 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) |
| 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
| 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.
- Impersonation is the most common trick. Scammers pretend to be banks, delivery firms, government agencies and family. See how to spot fake brand messages.
- 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.
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.
Journalists, researchers and teachers
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