US Scam Losses Hit Record $15.9 Billion: How to Protect Your Money

Scale of the fraud problem

U.S. scam losses reported to the Federal Trade Commission reached a record $15.9 billion last year, a 25% increase from 2024, according to a new Associated Press and FRONTLINE investigation. The rise shows how rapidly fraud is evolving—and why recovering stolen money is often far harder than preventing the transfer.

The reported total is likely only part of the damage. Many victims never file a complaint because they feel embarrassed, do not know where to report the crime or believe the money cannot be recovered. Separate Gallup research estimates that Americans lost about $68 billion to scams in 2025.

An AP-NORC poll found that 98% of Americans believe they have received suspected scam messages, with many encountering them every day. About three in 10 adults said they had personally lost money or information to a scam.

Scammers use phone calls, texts, social media, dating platforms, email and fake websites. The initial message may look routine: an unpaid toll, a package-delivery problem, a bank security warning or an investment opportunity. The common goal is to create urgency before the target has time to verify the claim.

Imposter scams and crypto risks

The FTC says consumers reported losing $3.5 billion to imposter scams in 2025, nearly three times the amount recorded in 2020. Government-imposter reports rose sharply, helped by messages falsely claiming that drivers owed toll charges or faced penalties.

Criminals also pretend to be bank fraud departments, police officers, technology-support workers, utility companies or relatives in an emergency. Artificial intelligence has made it easier to produce convincing messages, cloned voices and fake videos at scale.

Fraudsters frequently request payment by cryptocurrency, bank transfer, gift card or cash because those methods can be difficult to reverse. FBI data show that complaints involving cryptocurrency kiosks produced more than $388 million in reported losses during 2025, up 58% from the prior year.

A legitimate government agency or business will not direct a consumer to deposit cash into a crypto kiosk to “protect” funds. The FBI advises anyone warned by a kiosk operator that a transaction appears fraudulent to stop immediately.

Steps to reduce risk and recover funds

• Pause before paying. Urgency, secrecy and threats are classic warning signs. End the conversation and take time to verify it.
• Contact the organization independently. Use a phone number from a bank card, official statement or known government website—not a link or number supplied by the caller.
• Never move money to keep it safe. A bank or government agency will not ask customers to transfer funds to a “secure” account.
• Protect verification codes. One-time passcodes and account-recovery codes should never be shared with an incoming caller or message sender.
• Talk to someone you trust. Scammers isolate victims. A second opinion from a relative, friend or bank employee can interrupt the pressure.

Contact the bank, card issuer, payment app or cryptocurrency platform immediately and ask whether the transaction can be stopped or recalled. Speed matters, but no recovery is guaranteed.

Change passwords for affected accounts, enable multifactor authentication and preserve messages, receipts, wallet addresses and transaction numbers. File reports with the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov and the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center at IC3.gov when the fraud involved the internet.

Victims should also be cautious of “recovery” services demanding an upfront fee. The FBI has warned that scammers sometimes impersonate IC3 personnel and target people who have already lost money.

Record losses reflect more than careless decisions. Modern scams are organized, technologically sophisticated and designed to exploit trust, fear and loneliness. Consumers can lower the risk by slowing down, verifying requests through independent channels and treating unexpected demands for cryptocurrency or secrecy as immediate danger signs.