Americans reported USD 20.877 billion lost to internet crime in 2025, up 26% in a single year, across more than a million complaints. The distribution matters more than the total: people over 60 filed about 20% of complaints but accounted for roughly 37% of losses, and investment fraud alone drove nearly half of all scam-related money lost while phishing generated far more reports. The FBI also introduced an AI-related crime descriptor for the first time, logging over 22,000 complaints and nearly USD 900 million. The figures below come from the FBI’s IC3 annual report and the FTC’s Consumer Sentinel Network.
TL;DR
- IC3 recorded USD 20.877 billion in losses in 2025 (FBI IC3)
- That is 26% higher than 2024 (FBI IC3)
- IC3 logged 1,008,597 complaints (FBI IC3)
- The average loss per complaint was USD 20,699 (FBI IC3)
- People over 60 filed 201,266 complaints (FBI IC3)
- They reported USD 7.7 billion in losses, up 37% (FBI IC3)
- Phishing and spoofing led complaint volume at 191,561 (FBI IC3)
- Investment fraud drove nearly 49% of scam-related losses (FBI IC3)
- AI-related became a formal crime descriptor for the first time (FBI IC3)
- AI-related complaints exceeded 22,000 with nearly USD 900 million lost (FBI IC3)
- FTC Sentinel logged a record USD 15.9 billion from about 3 million reports (FTC)
- That is up from USD 12.5 billion in 2024 (FTC)
- People 50 and over reported USD 4.3 billion against USD 2.3 billion for younger adults (FTC)
1. The Headline Losses
Two federal datasets describe this problem and they produce different totals for legitimate reasons. IC3 recorded USD 20.877 billion across 1,008,597 complaints in 2025, up 26%, while the FTC’s Consumer Sentinel Network logged a record USD 15.9 billion from around 3 million reports. IC3 handles fewer, larger incidents; the FTC handles more reports of generally smaller losses.
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| IC3 total losses, 2025 | USD 20.877 billion | FBI IC3 |
| Year-over-year change | up 26% | FBI IC3 |
| IC3 complaints | 1,008,597 | FBI IC3 |
| Average loss per IC3 complaint | USD 20,699 | FBI IC3 |
| FTC Sentinel reported losses, 2025 | USD 15.9 billion | FTC |
| FTC reported losses, 2024 | USD 12.5 billion | FTC |
| FTC report volume | approx. 3 million | FTC |
| Implied FTC average per report | approx. USD 5,300 | Derived from FTC figures |
| Whether the two totals can be added | no | Derived |
The roughly four-to-one gap in average loss between the two datasets is the clearest evidence that they sample different parts of the same problem.
The routing explains most of it. IC3 is where victims go when they believe a crime has occurred and want law enforcement involved, which selects for larger losses and for people who know the channel exists. The FTC’s Sentinel Network aggregates from state attorneys general, consumer protection bodies, the Better Business Bureau, and direct consumer reports, capturing a much wider and shallower set of complaints including many with no loss at all. Neither is a census. A victim who loses USD 300 to a marketplace scam is far more likely to appear in Sentinel than in IC3, and a victim who loses USD 300,000 to investment fraud is far more likely to appear in both. Any analysis treating either total as the national figure for online fraud is overstating what the data supports. Source: FBI 2025 Internet Crime Report.
2. Older Adults Carry the Losses
Age is the sharpest split in this data, and it runs opposite to complaint volume. People over 60 filed 201,266 IC3 complaints, roughly 20% of the total, but reported USD 7.7 billion in losses, roughly 37% of the total, up 37% from 2024. Losing nearly double your share of the money relative to your share of the reports is what disproportionate targeting looks like in aggregate data.
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| IC3 complaints from people over 60 | 201,266 | FBI IC3 |
| Losses reported by that group | USD 7.7 billion | FBI IC3 |
| Year-over-year change in those losses | up 37% | FBI IC3 |
| Share of all IC3 complaints | approx. 20% | Derived from IC3 figures |
| Share of all IC3 losses | approx. 37% | Derived from IC3 figures |
| Average loss for over-60 complainants | approx. USD 38,300 | Derived from IC3 figures |
| FTC losses, people 50 and over | USD 4.3 billion | FTC |
| FTC losses, younger adults | USD 2.3 billion | FTC |
| AI-driven fraud losses among older adults | USD 352 million | FTC |
An average loss of roughly USD 38,300 for over-60 complainants against USD 20,699 across all complainants means older victims are not just more numerous in loss terms, they lose far more per incident. Source: AARP on 2025 fraud losses among older adults.
3. Volume and Value Rank Differently
The most common scam and the most costly scam are not the same thing, and reporting that conflates them misleads about where to focus. Phishing and spoofing led complaint volume at 191,561 reports, while investment fraud drove nearly 49% of all scam-related losses. High-frequency, low-value crime and low-frequency, high-value crime require completely different responses.
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Phishing and spoofing complaints | 191,561 | FBI IC3 |
| Rank by complaint volume | first | FBI IC3 |
| Investment fraud share of scam losses | nearly 49% | FBI IC3 |
| Rank by loss value | first | FBI IC3 |
| Total complaints | 1,008,597 | FBI IC3 |
| Phishing share of all complaints | approx. 19% | Derived from IC3 figures |
| Total losses | USD 20.877 billion | FBI IC3 |
| Implied investment fraud losses | approx. USD 10.2 billion | Derived from IC3 figures |
Investment fraud approaching half of all losses means a single category accounts for more money than every other scam type combined. Public awareness campaigns overwhelmingly target phishing, which is the correct priority for reducing the number of victims and the wrong one for reducing the money lost. Phishing context sits in our phishing statistics. Source: SpyCloud analysis of the 2025 IC3 report.
4. AI Became a Category
2025 is the first year the FBI tracked this as a distinct descriptor, which makes the baseline itself newsworthy. The IC3 report introduced AI-related as a formal crime descriptor, logging over 22,000 complaints and nearly USD 900 million in losses. A first-year figure has no trend behind it, but it establishes the floor against which every subsequent year will be measured.
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| AI-related complaints, 2025 | more than 22,000 | FBI IC3 |
| AI-related losses | nearly USD 900 million | FBI IC3 |
| Status of the category | introduced for the first time | FBI IC3 |
| Share of total complaints | approx. 2% | Derived from IC3 figures |
| Share of total losses | approx. 4% | Derived from IC3 figures |
| Average AI-related loss | approx. USD 40,900 | Derived from IC3 figures |
| AI-driven fraud losses among older adults | USD 352 million | FTC |
| Comparison to overall average loss | roughly double | Derived |
An average AI-related loss around double the overall average suggests these tools are being applied to higher-value targets rather than to volume scams, at least in the first year of measurement. Deepfake context sits in our deepfake detection statistics and voice-specific fraud in our vishing statistics. Source: FBI press release on cryptocurrency and AI scams.
5. What Neither Dataset Captures
Both agencies are explicit that these totals are floors. Reported losses represent only the fraction of fraud that victims report at all, and the reporting rate is unknown and almost certainly varies by scam type, victim age, and loss size. Shame, confusion about which agency to contact, and belief that reporting is futile all suppress the count.
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| IC3 reported losses | USD 20.877 billion | FBI IC3 |
| FTC reported losses | USD 15.9 billion | FTC |
| Whether these represent all fraud | no, reported fraud only | FBI IC3, FTC |
| Direction of the true total | higher by an unknown margin | Derived |
| IC3 complaint volume | 1,008,597 | FBI IC3 |
| FTC report volume | approx. 3 million | FTC |
| Overlap between the two datasets | not reconciled publicly | Derived |
| Correct way to cite both | separately, never summed | Derived |
The absence of any public reconciliation between the two datasets means the true national figure is not simply unknown in magnitude, it is unknown in structure. A victim who reports to both agencies appears twice across the two totals, and nobody publishes how often that happens. Identity-crime context sits in our identity theft statistics. Source: FTC testimony on the rising scam economy.
Summary: Online Scams by the Numbers
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| IC3 total losses, 2025 | USD 20.877 billion | FBI IC3 |
| Year-over-year change | up 26% | FBI IC3 |
| IC3 complaints | 1,008,597 | FBI IC3 |
| Average loss per complaint | USD 20,699 | FBI IC3 |
| Complaints from people over 60 | 201,266 | FBI IC3 |
| Losses among that group | USD 7.7 billion | FBI IC3 |
| Change in over-60 losses | up 37% | FBI IC3 |
| Over-60 share of complaints | approx. 20% | Derived |
| Over-60 share of losses | approx. 37% | Derived |
| Phishing and spoofing complaints | 191,561 | FBI IC3 |
| Investment fraud share of losses | nearly 49% | FBI IC3 |
| AI-related complaints | more than 22,000 | FBI IC3 |
| AI-related losses | nearly USD 900 million | FBI IC3 |
| FTC Sentinel losses, 2025 | USD 15.9 billion | FTC |
| FTC Sentinel losses, 2024 | USD 12.5 billion | FTC |
| FTC report volume | approx. 3 million | FTC |
| FTC losses, 50 and over | USD 4.3 billion | FTC |
| FTC losses, younger adults | USD 2.3 billion | FTC |
| AI-driven fraud losses, older adults | USD 352 million | FTC |
Methodology and Sources
- Complaint counts, loss totals, demographic breakdowns, crime type rankings, and the new AI descriptor come from the FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center’s 2025 Annual Report (IC3 report PDF, FBI file repository copy, FBI press release), with independent analysis cross-checked (SpyCloud, HIPAA Journal).
- Consumer Sentinel Network figures and age-based loss comparisons come from the FTC (FTC testimony on the scam economy, Consumer Sentinel Network), with reporting on older-adult losses (AARP).
- Data watch: IC3 and FTC totals measure different populations through different channels and must never be added together or presented as competing estimates of the same quantity. IC3 collects complaints specifically about internet crime and skews toward higher-value incidents; the FTC aggregates consumer fraud reports across many sources and channels. Neither captures unreported fraud, and both agencies state that reported losses are a subset of actual losses by an unknown margin. Reporting rates almost certainly vary by scam type, victim age, and loss size, so demographic comparisons reflect reporting behaviour as well as victimisation. The AI-related category is new in 2025 and has no prior-year baseline, so it cannot yet support a trend claim. Rows marked as derived are arithmetic on published figures.
- Last updated: August 2, 2026. We update this roundup quarterly, and the next major refresh is expected when the FBI publishes its 2026 Internet Crime Report.