TL;DR: The FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center received 1,008,597 complaints in 2025 and recorded $20.877 billion in reported losses, up 26% on 2024 and the highest of the five years we compare. Investment fraud alone cost $8.65 billion. Adults 60 and over reported $7.748 billion, crypto-related losses reached $11.366 billion, and the FBI's Financial Fraud Kill Chain froze $679 million of $1.16 billion in attempted theft.
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The headline numbers
The IC3 published its 2025 Internet Crime Report in 2026. It counts complaints submitted voluntarily by victims or their representatives, so it reflects reported internet crime and fraud, not all of it. The average reported loss per complaint was $20,699.
| Year | Complaints | Reported losses |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 847,376 | $6.9 billion |
| 2022 | 800,944 | $10.3 billion |
| 2023 | 880,418 | $12.5 billion |
| 2024 | 859,532 | $16.6 billion |
| 2025 | 1,008,597 | $20.877 billion |
Complaints rose 17% in 2025 (computed from 859,532 to 1,008,597), while losses rose 26%, so the average complaint cost more than the year before.
Which crimes cost the most
By number of complaints the ranking is different. Phishing and spoofing led with 191,561 complaints, followed by extortion (89,129), investment (72,984), personal data breach (67,456) and non-payment or non-delivery (56,478). The crimes people report most are not the ones that cost the most. Investment ranks third by count but first by a wide margin by money. See bank fraud statistics for 2026 and phishing statistics for 2026 for more on both, and business email compromise statistics for the business email compromise side.
Who loses the most: age groups
Adults 60 and over filed 201,266 complaints and reported $7.748 billion in losses, about 59% more than the $4.885 billion in 2024 (our calculation; complaints were up 37%). The average loss for this group was $38,500, and 12,444 of them lost more than $100,000.
| Age group | Complaints | Reported losses |
|---|---|---|
| Under 20 | 31,254 | $67.1 million |
| 20-29 | 112,069 | $563.1 million |
| 30-39 | 153,293 | $1.7 billion |
| 40-49 | 167,066 | $2.957 billion |
| 50-59 | 124,820 | $3.7 billion |
| 60 and over | 201,266 | $7.748 billion |
These rows do not sum to the 2025 totals because complaints that gave no age are left out of the age table. Age-group losses other than the 60+ row are rounded as published.
More on why older adults are targeted, and how to protect parents and grandparents, is in elder fraud statistics for 2026 and how to protect elderly parents from phone scams.
Cryptocurrency and recovery
Crypto cuts across the categories above rather than adding to them. The IC3 recorded 181,565 crypto-related complaints and $11.366 billion in losses in 2025, up 21% and 22% respectively. Our crypto scam statistics for 2026 guide covers the wider picture.
The FBI's Financial Fraud Kill Chain is a rapid process for asking banks to freeze fraudulent transfers. It only helps with qualifying wire-type transfers reported quickly, which is why the frozen amount is a small share of total losses.
| Year | Incidents | Attempted theft | Frozen | Success rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 3,020 | $848.4 million | $561.6 million ($469.1M domestic, $92.5M international) | 66% |
| 2025 | 3,900 | $1,163,919,846 | $679,013,183 | 58% |
The $679 million frozen in 2025 was 58% of the $1.16 billion of attempted theft in the incidents the process handled. Those incidents are a small part of the year: $679 million is about 3% of the $20.877 billion in total reported losses (our calculation). The takeaway is speed: if money has just left your account, call your bank first, then file at FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3). Our guides on how to report a scam to the IC3 and how to reverse a wire transfer scam explain how.
How we compiled this data
All 2025 figures are from the FBI IC3 Internet Crime Report 2025 (headline totals, crime-type tables, age table, elder fraud section, Financial Fraud Kill Chain and cryptocurrency sections). The 2021 to 2024 figures come from the IC3 reports for those years and were cross-checked against later editions. Percentage changes marked as computed are our arithmetic on the printed figures.
We could not find a reliable consolidated 2021 to 2025 total in the 2025 report, and one automated read of it returned totals that did not equal the sum of the yearly figures, so we use only the printed per-year values.
The full report PDF could not be downloaded directly from our publishing environment, so numbers were read through the IC3 page text, confirmed by an independent second read of the same report and, for the headline figures, against press coverage. Age-group loss values other than the 60+ row are rounded as the report presents them. If anything looks off, please tell us.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much did Americans lose to internet crime in 2025?
The FBI IC3 recorded $20.877 billion in reported losses across 1,008,597 complaints in 2025, up 26% on 2024. These are reported figures and the true total is higher.
What was the most costly scam in the IC3 report?
Investment fraud, at $8,648,617,756 in reported losses, ahead of business email compromise ($3.05 billion) and tech and customer support scams ($2.13 billion).
How much did people over 60 lose?
Adults 60 and over filed 201,266 complaints and reported $7.748 billion in losses, with an average loss of $38,500.
Can stolen money be frozen?
Sometimes. The FBI's Financial Fraud Kill Chain froze $679 million of $1.16 billion in attempted theft in 2025, but only for qualifying transfers reported quickly. Contact your bank immediately and file at IC3.gov.
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The chart and compilation are ours; the underlying figures belong to the agencies listed under Sources, so check their terms before reusing the raw data.
Sources
- FBI IC3: Internet Crime Report 2025 (headline totals, crime types, age, Financial Fraud Kill Chain, cryptocurrency)
- FBI IC3: Internet Crime Report 2024 (five-year table and top crime types)
- FBI IC3: Internet Crime Report 2023 (2023 complaint and loss totals)
- FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3)
Related Reading
- UK Fraud in 2025: £1.28 Billion Lost, APP Scams Up 19% to £576.4 Million
- Canada Fraud in 2025: C$704 Million Reported Lost, Investment Fraud Leads at C$351 Million
- Australia's Scam Losses in 2025: A$2.18 Billion Across 481,523 Reports
- scam losses in the US, UK, Canada and Australia in 2025
- US scam news: October 2026 roundup