TL;DR: In 2025, investment fraud was the largest single scam-loss category in the US, Canada and Australia and the largest type of UK APP scam: $8.65 billion in the US (FBI IC3), £221.5 million in UK APP scams, C$351 million in Canada and A$837.7 million in Australia. It made up roughly 41% of IC3 losses, 38% of UK APP losses, 50% of Canadian reported losses and 38% of Australian losses. Losses grew in the US, UK and Canada; Australia's fell 11.4%.

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Investment fraud in each country, 2025

Investment fraud, which in the agencies' categories covers fake trading platforms and crypto investment schemes (our guides also cover the "pig butchering" romance-investment hybrid), topped the scam-loss table in the US, Canada and Australia, and the APP scam table in the UK.

Investment fraud losses by country, 2025
Country and sourceInvestment losses, 2025Share of the denominatorChange vs 2024
US: FBI IC3$8,648,617,756 (72,984 complaints)41.4% of all IC3 losses+32%*
US: FTC$7.9 billionabout 50% of FTC fraud lossesnot compared
UK: UK Finance (APP only)£221.5 million (14,893 cases)38.4% of APP losses (17.3% of all UK Finance fraud)+40% losses, +26% cases
Canada: CAFCC$351 million (4,409 reports, 3,867 victims)49.9% of reported losses+13%*
Australia: NASCA$837.7 million38.4% of combined losses-11.4%

* Computed by us and rounded, from the agencies' rounded or "over" totals. US: $6.57 billion in 2024 to $8.65 billion in 2025. Canada: C$310.6 million in 2024 to C$351 million in 2025. Other changes are as published. The US change uses IC3 data only.

Investment fraud as a share of reported losses, 2025Investment fraud share of each agency's reported losses: US IC3 41.4 percent, FTC 49.7, Canada 49.9, Australia 38.4, UK APP 38.4.Investment fraud as a share of reported losses, 2025US (FBI IC3)41.4%US (FTC)49.7%Canada (CAFC)49.9%Australia (NASC)38.4%UK (APP only)38.4%
Denominators differ: all IC3 losses, all FTC fraud losses, UK APP scam losses only, CAFC reported losses and the combined Australian total.

What the shares do and do not mean

The shares are computed against different denominators, so the UK figure is not directly comparable with the others. UK Finance's investment figure is also narrower than it looks: it covers only payments that banks confirmed as APP scams. Report Fraud, which counts reports from victims whatever the payment route, recorded £879.8 million lost to investment fraud across 34,673 reports in 2025, nearly four times the bank-confirmed figure, partly because it counts every payment route and not only bank-confirmed APP payments, and because the losses are as stated by the people reporting.

Three of the four countries saw investment losses rise in 2025. Australia is the exception: its combined investment loss fell 11.4% to A$837.7 million, though it still dwarfed every other Australian category.

Why investment scams cost so much

Investment scams typically play out over weeks: our guides describe victims being shown small early gains and then pushed to deposit more. That pattern is background from our guides, not something these datasets measure. The FTC said the average individual loss in investment scams exceeded $10,000 in 2025, and the IC3 loss total is more than twice the next category. Our guides on romance investment (pig butchering) scams, crypto scam statistics for 2026 and investment and trading app scam recovery explain how the schemes work and what recovery realistically looks like.

Red flags that recur: a stranger who moves a conversation to a private chat, returns that are guaranteed or unusually steady, a trading app that is not on an official regulator register, and pressure to deposit more to "unlock" a withdrawal. If you have paid, read realistic expectations for crypto scam recovery before contacting any "recovery" service.

How we compiled this data

Investment loss figures are the agency's own category totals for 2025: FBI IC3 "Investment" crime type, FTC investment scams, UK Finance "Investment" APP scam type, CAFC "Investments" top-10 category and the National Anti-Scam Centre combined "Investment" scam type. Shares divide each by the total the same source reports. Percentage changes are as published, except where marked as computed.

Category definitions differ between agencies and between years. We have not adjusted for that. UK Finance restated its 2024 base in the 2026 report, so we only quote the year-on-year change it states. FTC 2025 totals are rounded by the FTC.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the biggest type of scam by money lost?

In the latest official data, investment fraud is the largest single scam-loss category in the US, Canada and Australia and the largest type of UK APP scam, at roughly 38 to 50 per cent of the relevant loss total. In UK Finance's wider fraud total, unauthorised card fraud is larger.

Why is the UK investment figure so much lower than Report Fraud's?

UK Finance counts only bank-confirmed authorised push payment scams (£221.5 million). Report Fraud counts victim reports across all payment routes, including crypto and cards, and recorded £879.8 million.

Did investment fraud grow in 2025?

It grew in the US (IC3 losses up from $6.57 billion to $8.65 billion), the UK (APP investment losses up 40%) and Canada (C$310.6 million to C$351 million), but fell 11.4% in Australia.

Can I get money back after an investment scam?

Sometimes, if you act quickly. Report to your bank and national body immediately and be wary of recovery services that ask for fees up front. See our recovery guides linked in this article.

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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.

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