Key Takeaways

Consumers reported losing more than $12.5 billion to fraud in 2024, according to the FTC, a 25% increase from the prior year.
The FTC received 2.6 million fraud reports in 2024, while the full Consumer Sentinel Network received 6.5 million total reports across categories.
Investment scams caused the largest reported losses in 2024 at $5.7 billion.
Imposter scams caused $2.95 billion in reported losses in 2024.
Government imposter scams alone caused $789 million in reported losses in 2024.
The share of fraud reports involving actual money lost rose to 38% in 2024, up from 27% in 2023, which suggests scams are becoming more effective.
The FBI’s 2025 IC3 report says cyber-enabled crime losses surpassed $20 billion in 2025, showing that broader financial fraud and internet crime losses are still climbing.

CORE STATISTICS

$12.5 billion in consumer fraud losses reported to the FTC in 2024.
2.6 million fraud reports submitted to the FTC in 2024.
6.5 million total reports received by the FTC Consumer Sentinel Network in 2024.
38% of fraud reports involved money lost in 2024, compared with 27% in 2023.
$5.7 billion lost to investment scams in 2024.
$2.95 billion lost to imposter scams in 2024.
845,806 imposter scam reports were submitted to Sentinel in 2024.
$789 million was lost to government imposter scams in 2024.
Consumers reported losing over $3 billion to scams that started online in 2024, compared with about $1.9 billion lost to more traditional contact methods like calls, texts, or emails.
The FBI’s 2025 IC3 report says losses from cyber-enabled crime surpassed $20 billion.

TRENDS & INSIGHTS

The biggest financial-fraud trend is that losses are rising faster than complaint volume. FTC data shows the number of fraud reports in 2024 was roughly similar to the prior year, but the total dollars lost jumped sharply and the percentage of reports involving money loss also increased. That suggests scammers are getting better at converting contact into payment.

Another clear trend is the dominance of high-dollar fraud categories. Investment scams generated the largest reported losses, and imposter scams remained one of the biggest categories by both scale and impact. In other words, financial fraud is not just about small nuisance scams. A growing share of the harm is concentrated in attacks that extract very large payments from fewer victims.

The FTC’s 2024 data also suggests financial fraud is becoming more digital. Consumers reported over $3 billion in losses to scams that started online, and text-message scam losses continued to climb. That means financial fraud increasingly begins in ordinary digital channels rather than only through traditional telemarketing-style schemes.

REAL-WORLD CONTEXT

For consumers, financial fraud usually does not begin with an obvious “fraud event.” It often starts with a routine-looking message: an investment opportunity, a suspicious-account warning, a package problem, a payment request, or someone pretending to be from a business or government office. FTC reporting shows these familiar-looking approaches are now tied to billions in losses.

For adults 45–75, the practical risk is that many of the highest-loss scams are designed to create urgency, trust, and confusion at the same time. That is especially dangerous when a scam involves retirement savings, large transfers, or instructions to move money quickly. This is an inference supported by the FTC’s top-loss categories and the FBI’s continued warnings about high-dollar cyber-enabled fraud.

WHO IS MOST AT RISK

People approached with investment opportunities, especially those promising unusual returns or urgent action.
Consumers targeted by imposter scams involving businesses, government agencies, relatives in distress, or technical support.
Adults over 60, who FTC and FBI reporting consistently show suffer especially large losses when fraud succeeds.
People who send money through payment methods that are hard to reverse, including bank transfers and cryptocurrency. This is an inference supported by the FTC’s top-loss framing and IC3’s investment-fraud reporting.

QUICK CHECKLIST (what this means)

Financial fraud losses are still rising fast.
Investment scams remain the biggest loss category.
Imposter scams are still one of the most damaging forms of fraud.
More fraud is starting online and through digital messaging.
A smaller number of successful scams may now be causing much larger losses. This is an analytical conclusion based on the FTC’s year-over-year loss and conversion-rate data.

HOW TO STAY PROTECTED

Slow down when money is involved, especially if the message creates urgency or fear. FTC scam reporting strongly supports this behavior change.
Verify all payment requests, account warnings, and investment claims using contact information you look up yourself.
Be extremely cautious with crypto transfers, bank transfers, and other hard-to-reverse payment methods.
Talk with older family members about imposter scams, investment scams, and urgent payment requests. FTC and FBI reporting both indicate older adults often suffer the heaviest losses.

CITABLE STATEMENTS

Consumers reported losing more than $12.5 billion to fraud in 2024, according to the FTC.
Investment scams caused $5.7 billion in reported losses in 2024.
Imposter scams caused $2.95 billion in reported losses in 2024.
The share of fraud reports involving money loss rose to 38% in 2024, up from 27% in 2023.
The FBI’s 2025 IC3 report says cyber-enabled crime losses surpassed $20 billion.

SOURCES

FTC, New FTC Data Show a Big Jump in Reported Losses to Fraud to $12.5 Billion in 2024.
FTC, Top Scams of 2024.
FTC, Consumer Sentinel Network Data Book 2024.
FBI IC3, 2025 Internet Crime Report.

Financial Fraud Statistics / Report