Did You Know Fraud Losses Rose in 2024?

Scammers and fraudsters had a big year in 2024, at least according to a recently released report from the Federal Trade Commission. The FTC data found consumers reported losing more than $12.5 billion to fraud last year, a 25% increase over 2023.

According to the FTC’s data book, this number is not driven by an increase in fraud reports, which remained stable. Instead, the percentage of people who reported losing money to a fraud or scam increased by double digits. In 2023, 27% of people who reported a fraud said they lost money, while in 2024, that figure jumped to 38%.

Consumers reported losing more money to investment scams—$5.7 billion—than any other category in 2024. That amount represents a 24% increase over 2023. The second highest reported loss amount came from imposter scams, with $2.95 billion reported lost. In 2024, consumers reported losing more money to scams where they paid with bank transfers or cryptocurrency than all other payment methods combined, according to the report.

“The data we’re releasing today shows that scammers’ tactics are constantly evolving,” said Christopher Mufarrige, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, in a media release. “The FTC is monitoring those trends closely and working hard to protect the American people from fraud.”

The FTC received fraud reports from 2.6 million consumers last year, nearly the same amount as 2023. The most commonly reported scam category was imposter scams. Losses to government imposter scams in particular increased $171 million from 2023 to a total of $789 million in 2024.

Online shopping issues were the second most commonly reported in the fraud category. This was followed by business and job opportunities, where reported losses totaled $750.6 million—up nearly $250 million from 2023. The other most reported categories of fraud were investment-related reports and internet services.

For the second consecutive year, email was the most common way that consumers reported being contacted by scammers. Phone calls were the second most commonly reported contact method for fraud in 2024, followed by text messages, according to the release.

SOURCE: Federal Trade Commission