Key Takeaways

• The FTC says consumers reported $470 million in losses from scams that started with text messages in 2024, which was more than five times the amount reported in 2020.
• The FTC says text scams are increasingly tied to fake package delivery problems, fake job opportunities, fake fraud alerts, fake account security warnings, and toll-road payment scams.
• Text-message scams work because texts feel immediate, personal, and routine, making people more likely to act before verifying. This is an inference supported by the FTC’s category breakdown and loss growth.
• The FTC’s broader 2024 fraud release also found that scams are getting more effective, with the share of fraud reports involving money loss rising sharply year over year.
• Older adults face outsized harm in related mobile-payment scam patterns. The FTC says adults 60 and over were more than three times as likely as younger adults to report a Bitcoin ATM loss in the first half of 2024.
• Text scams are no longer a side channel. They are now a major consumer fraud pathway.

CORE STATISTICS

• $470 million in reported losses from text-message scams in 2024.
• That total was more than 5x the 2020 level.
• The FTC says the top text scam themes in 2024 included package delivery problems, job opportunities, fraud alerts, account issues, and toll charges.
• Consumers reported more than $12.5 billion in fraud losses overall in 2024.
• In 2024, the share of fraud reports involving money lost rose to 38%, up from 27% in 2023.
• In the first half of 2024, adults 60+ were more than three times as likely as younger adults to report a loss using a Bitcoin ATM.
• The FTC says more than two out of every three dollars reported lost to fraud using Bitcoin ATMs in the first half of 2024 was lost by an older adult.

TRENDS & INSIGHTS

The clearest trend is that text-message scams are becoming more expensive even when they do not always look sophisticated. The FTC’s 2025 text-scam release shows sharp loss growth, which suggests scammers are getting better at converting short, routine-looking texts into payments or account compromise.

Another clear pattern is that the best-performing text scams imitate everyday friction rather than dramatic emergencies. A fake package issue, toll bill, job lead, fraud alert, or account problem feels normal enough to click first and think later. That is one reason SMS scams can outperform older, more obviously suspicious scam formats. This is an inference grounded in the FTC’s top-text-scam categories.

A third trend is convergence. A text scam may start with a simple link, but it can quickly turn into phishing, account takeover, impersonation, or hard-to-reverse payment fraud. That broader pattern is supported by the FTC’s overall fraud-loss data and related Bitcoin ATM fraud reporting.

REAL-WORLD CONTEXT

In real life, text scams often look like ordinary notices: “Your package couldn’t be delivered,” “Your account has suspicious activity,” “You owe a toll,” or “We found a great job for you.” The danger is not just the message itself. It is how fast a text can trigger a tap before the person pauses to verify.

For adults 45–75, text scams are especially dangerous because texting now feels like a trusted utility, not a risky environment. Family communication, account verification, shipping updates, and financial alerts all happen by text, which gives scammers a built-in advantage. This is a reasoned conclusion based on the FTC’s contact-pattern findings.

WHO IS MOST AT RISK

• People who tap links in urgent texts about accounts, deliveries, jobs, or tolls.
• Consumers who trust a text because it references a common real-world task or problem. This is an inference supported by the FTC’s top scam categories.
• Older adults exposed to text scams that escalate into Bitcoin ATM or impersonation-driven payment fraud.
• People who act quickly on mobile devices without independently verifying the sender or claim. This is an inference supported by the same evidence.

QUICK CHECKLIST (what this means)

• Text scams are a major and growing fraud channel.
• Package, toll, job, and fraud-alert texts are leading themes.
• Scam effectiveness is rising, not just message volume.
• Older adults face especially serious losses in related mobile-payment fraud patterns.
• Verification matters more than how normal the text looks. This is an analytical conclusion from the evidence above.

HOW TO STAY PROTECTED

• Do not tap links in unexpected texts about account problems, packages, tolls, or jobs. Use the official app or website instead. This recommendation follows directly from the FTC’s top-text-scam findings.
• Treat fraud-alert texts as suspicious until you independently confirm them through a trusted number or website you look up yourself.
• Be especially cautious if a text leads to urgent payment instructions, crypto, or Bitcoin ATM use.
• Talk with older relatives about current text scam themes, especially toll-road, package, and fake fraud-alert texts.

CITABLE STATEMENTS

• The FTC says consumers reported $470 million in losses from text-message scams in 2024.
• That total was more than five times higher than in 2020.
• The FTC says the top text scam themes in 2024 included package delivery problems, fake job opportunities, fraud alerts, account issues, and toll charges.
• In the first half of 2024, adults 60 and over were more than three times as likely as younger adults to report a Bitcoin ATM scam loss.
• The FTC says consumers reported more than $12.5 billion in fraud losses overall in 2024.

SOURCES

• FTC, New FTC Data Show Top Text Message Scams of 2024; Overall Losses to Text Scams Hit $470 Million.
• FTC Data Spotlight, Top text scams of 2024.
• FTC Data Spotlight, Bitcoin ATMs: A payment portal for scammers.
• FTC, New FTC Data Show a Big Jump in Reported Losses to Fraud to $12.5 Billion in 2024.