US scam losses in 2026 — statistics and sources
Headline numbers
According to the FTC Consumer Sentinel Network, US consumers reported losing more than $10 billion to fraud in 2023 — the first year losses crossed that threshold, and a 14 percent increase over 2022. 2024 figures showed continued growth, with $12.5 billion in reported losses. Early 2026 indicators from the FTC suggest losses remain on the same trajectory.
The FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) reported $12.5 billion in losses from internet-enabled crime in 2023, the most recent full year. Elder fraud specifically (victims age 60+) accounted for $3.4 billion of that figure — an 11 percent increase over the prior year and the highest-loss age cohort by a wide margin.
AARP's Fraud Watch Network estimates that elder fraud losses are dramatically under-reported, with the true annual cost to Americans 60+ likely exceeding $28 billion when unreported incidents are included.
Where the money goes
Investment scams are now the single largest loss category by dollar value. The FTC reported $4.6 billion in investment-scam losses in 2023, driven heavily by 'pig butchering' — long-con romance-into-investment schemes typically built around fake crypto-trading platforms.
Imposter scams (government, business, family/friend impersonation) cost Americans $2.7 billion in 2023.
Online shopping fraud accounted for $392 million, but this is widely considered the most under-reported category because individual losses are smaller.
Romance scams directly accounted for $1.14 billion, but the line between 'romance' and 'investment' has blurred — many romance scams convert to investment scams within weeks.
How victims are contacted
Phone (calls and SMS) remains the highest-loss contact method by dollar volume — losses per phone-initiated scam tend to be larger because of the social-engineering depth phone calls allow.
Email is the highest-volume contact method by reports filed, though average losses per email-initiated scam are lower than phone.
Social media is the fastest-growing channel, with the FTC reporting that 1 in 4 fraud reports filed by people who lost money in 2023 said the contact started on social media — and the median individual loss was higher than any other channel.
Text-message scams (smishing) grew an estimated 58 percent year-over-year through 2024 and continue to be among the most-reported scam vectors.
Elder fraud: the disproportionate impact
Adults 60 and older filed 101,068 fraud complaints with IC3 in 2023, with average loss per victim of $33,915 — roughly twice the average loss across all age groups.
Victims 80+ had the highest average loss of any age cohort, at over $45,000 per incident.
Tech support scams disproportionately affect older adults: 60+ victims account for roughly 60 percent of tech-support-scam losses despite being a smaller share of the online population.
FINRA's Investor Education Foundation estimates that for every $1 of elder financial exploitation reported, an estimated $24 goes unreported — driven by victim shame, cognitive decline, and fear of family intervention.
What's growing fastest
AI-voice impersonation ('grandparent scams' using cloned voices) — reports tripled between 2023 and 2024. Average loss is among the highest of any scam type.
Pig-butchering investment scams — IC3 logged a 53 percent year-over-year increase in losses through 2023 and the growth continued through 2024.
Job scams — driven by remote-work culture, with median individual losses rising as scammers ask for upfront 'equipment' or 'training' fees.
Toll-pass and delivery text scams — the volume of E-ZPass and USPS-delivery smishing has exploded since 2024, with several states issuing advisories.
Sources
FTC Consumer Sentinel Network Data Book — annual report from the Federal Trade Commission summarizing fraud, identity theft, and other consumer complaints. Public at ftc.gov.
FBI Internet Crime Report (IC3) — annual report from the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center. Public at ic3.gov.
AARP Fraud Watch Network — research arm of AARP focused specifically on fraud targeting older Americans. Public at aarp.org/money/scams-fraud.
FINRA Investor Education Foundation — funds research on elder financial exploitation, including the widely cited 24:1 underreporting estimate.
All figures on this page are taken from these public sources. If you need original-source links for a citation, contact press@mydoublecheck.app.
Citation
This page is updated as new FTC and FBI reports are released. If you cite figures in journalism or research, please cite the original source (FTC, FBI IC3, AARP, or FINRA) rather than this page — we are a secondary aggregator, not a primary research source.
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