All too often, victims of fraud are repeatedly deceived by the same criminals regarding the same scheme. Or, once victimized, some are that much more vulnerable to new scams.
Fraud reached unprecedented levels in 2024, with a staggering $12.5 billion lost, a shocking increase of 25% over 2023. The number of reports remained stable from 2023 to 2024, but the percentage of reporters who had money stolen jumped from 27% to 38%.
Key Takeaways:
- Impostor scams continue to rise, with criminals impersonating trusted individuals, companies, or government agencies to deceive victims.
- 1 in 5 victims of impostor scams had money stolen from them, with an average loss of about $800 per person.
- Many scams were tied to gift card purchases or cryptocurrency, with a total of $2.95 billion being stolen from consumers across the country.
Email remained the most popular method for criminals to reach their victims, with a 25% increase in its use compared to last year.
These numbers are shocking, but the true extent of fraud is likely much higher, as a significant amount of fraud goes unreported. Last October, the FTC factored in underreporting from 2023, estimating that the $10.4 billion in losses reported to the agency that year was more like $158.3 billion.
Be a fraud fighter! If you can spot a scam, you can stop a scam.