TL;DR: The FTC reported Americans lost $470 million to text message scams in 2024 — about five times what was reported in 2020 — with fake package-delivery alerts the single most common category, followed by bogus job offers and fake fraud alerts.
The FTC reported Americans lost $470 million to text message scams in 2024 — about five times what was reported in 2020 — with fake package-delivery alerts the single most common category, followed by bogus job offers and fake fraud alerts.
What the Data Shows
Text scams work because they mimic routine notifications people already expect — a delivery update or a bank alert — so the best defense is never tapping a link in an unexpected text and instead checking directly with the sender through official channels.
Why This Matters
Numbers like these are a reminder that this isn’t a rare event — it’s a routine risk. Checking whether your own information has already been exposed takes 30 seconds and costs nothing.
If this looks similar to something else you've seen, it's worth reading Which Age Group Loses the Most Money to Scams?.
This pattern shows up elsewhere too — see Which Industry Gets Breached the Most?.
Frequently Asked Questions
What do the numbers actually show?
The FTC reported Americans lost $470 million to text message scams in 2024 — about five times what was reported in 2020 — with fake package-delivery alerts the single most common category, followed by bogus job offers and fake fraud alerts.
What does this mean for you?
Text scams work because they mimic routine notifications people already expect — a delivery update or a bank alert — so the best defense is never tapping a link in an unexpected text and instead checking directly with the sender through official channels.
Where does this data come from?
This data is drawn from FTC – Top Text Message Scams of 2024, a primary reporting source for fraud and identity theft data.