Online scams take many forms, and the clearest way to understand current risk is to keep official reporting systems separate. This guide uses the FBI’s 2025 IC3 report for internet-enabled crime complaints and FTC 2025 Consumer Sentinel data for consumer fraud reports, then focuses on the warning signs and actions that matter most.
What the 2025 Reports Actually Show
The FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) and the FTC Consumer Sentinel Network collect different reports and use different categories. Their totals should be read separately, not combined into one ranking.
FBI IC3: cyber-enabled fraud complaints
In its 2025 Annual Report, the FBI identified 452,868 cyber-enabled-fraud complaints with $17.697 billion in reported losses. Investment complaints produced more than $8 billion in reported losses. The report also uses an AI-related descriptor across established crime types; AI is not a separate, mutually exclusive scam category.
FTC Consumer Sentinel: consumer fraud reports
FTC data for 2025 show about $16 billion in reported losses across all fraud reports. Imposter scams were the most frequently reported fraud category—nearly one in three fraud reports—with $3.5 billion in reported losses. Investment scams produced the highest FTC-reported losses at $7.9 billion.
Five Scam Patterns to Recognize
- Investment scams: fake platforms, guaranteed returns, or pressure to move money or cryptocurrency.
- Imposter scams: someone posing as a bank, business, government agency, relative, or support representative.
- Business email compromise: a fraudulent message requesting an urgent payment or changed account details.
- Tech-support scams: fake security warnings or unsolicited callers requesting payment or remote access.
- AI-assisted deception: cloned voices, fabricated images, or generated messages used to make established scam tactics more convincing.
Other Common Scam Types Worth Knowing
These categories don’t currently carry the same verified loss figures as the five above, but remain among the most frequently reported scam types:
- Romance scams — a scammer builds a relationship over weeks or months on a dating app or social media before requesting money for an emergency, travel costs, or an “investment opportunity.”
- Online shopping scams — fake storefronts, too-good-to-be-true prices, or sellers who take payment and never ship anything.
- Job and employment scams — fake job postings that require upfront payment for training or equipment, or that use the “job” to launder stolen funds through the victim’s own bank account.
Quick Reference: Separate 2025 Reporting Systems
| Source | What it measures | 2025 signal |
|---|---|---|
| FBI IC3 Annual Report | Internet-enabled crime complaints submitted to IC3 | 452,868 cyber-enabled-fraud complaints; $17.697B in that subset; investment losses exceeded $8B |
| FTC Consumer Sentinel | Consumer fraud reports received by the FTC and data contributors | About $16B across fraud reports; $3.5B in imposter-scam losses; $7.9B in investment-scam losses |
Important: These systems have different scopes and taxonomies. The figures are not additive and do not form one unified ranking.
What to Do If You’ve Been Scammed
Report the scam at reportfraud.ftc.gov and, for internet-based crimes, at ic3.gov. If the scam involved identity theft — a stolen Social Security number, opened accounts, or medical fraud — see our complete guide to identity theft prevention and recovery for the full reporting and recovery process.
Quick-Start Checklist
☐ Never send money or crypto to someone you haven’t met in person
☐ Hang up and call back on a known number if a “family member” calls in distress
☐ Verify payment-change requests from vendors or executives through a second channel
☐ Never grant remote computer access to an unsolicited caller
☐ Report any scam attempt at reportfraud.ftc.gov, even if you didn’t lose money
☐ Check in on older family members about these specific scam types
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the most common online scam right now?
By reported financial losses, investment fraud — frequently tied to cryptocurrency — has been the top category for four consecutive years. By number of reports, imposter scams are most common.
How much money did Americans lose to online scams in 2025?
The FBI IC3 identified 452,868 cyber-enabled-fraud complaints and $17.697 billion in reported losses in that subset for 2025. The FTC separately reported about $16 billion across consumer fraud reports. The systems use different scopes and categories, so their totals should not be combined.
Are AI scams actually a real threat, or mostly hype?
AI can make established scams more convincing through cloned voices, generated messages, and fabricated media. The FBI tracks AI as a descriptor across existing crime types rather than as one separate, mutually exclusive scam category.
Can I get my money back after falling for a scam?
It depends heavily on the payment method. Credit card and payment-app transactions can sometimes be disputed with the provider; wire transfers and cryptocurrency payments are usually unrecoverable once sent.
Do older adults get scammed more than younger adults?
They report higher total losses in dollar terms, but younger adults report fraud frequently too, often through different scam types like job scams and social-media-based investment fraud.
Should I report a scam even if I didn’t lose money?
Yes. Reports to reportfraud.ftc.gov and ic3.gov help identify patterns and new scam tactics even when no money changed hands, and can support investigations into repeat offenders.
What makes business email compromise different from a normal phishing email?
BEC scams are more targeted — they typically impersonate a specific executive or vendor a business already works with, rather than casting a wide net, which makes them harder to spot with generic phishing training.
Is it still worth worrying about “old-fashioned” scams like romance scams?
Yes. While this article’s verified loss figures focus on the largest tracked categories, romance scams remain a frequently reported and emotionally devastating scam type that shouldn’t be dismissed as outdated.
Recommended Next Reading
- Identity Theft: Complete Guide to Prevention and Recovery — what to do if a scam led to identity theft.
- 11 Warning Signs Your Identity Has Been Stolen — signs to watch for after any scam involving personal information.
- How to Remove Your Personal Information from the Internet — reduce the exposure scammers rely on to target you.