The Federal Trade Commission (FTC)‡ received 3 million fraud reports from consumers in 2025, with a reported $15.9 billion in losses. This was not only the highest loss and number of reports in history, but it was also a substantial increase from the previous year, which had 2.6 million fraud reports and reported fraud losses of more than $12 billion.

Top fraud trends to watch

Imposter scams continue to rise as the leading reported fraud category, a trend seen since 2020, with a $700 median loss per event. The FTC received more than 1 million consumer reports about imposter scams, with more than $3.5 billion in losses reported in this category. These scams involve individuals impersonating entities such as your bank’s fraud department, the government, relatives in distress, well-known businesses and technical support experts, and more.

However, despite being reported less frequently, the most money was stolen via investment scams – amounting to $7.9 billion. Investment scams, including cryptocurrency investments and other “too good to be true” opportunities, pose significant risk to consumers. Fraudsters use sophisticated tactics for these investment schemes, such as using stolen social media profiles and text messaging the “wrong person” to make their scam appear more legitimate. They also target vulnerable groups, like the elderly or non-English speaking individuals, hoping they will not question the perceived financial opportunity.

The Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3)‡ also released a 2025 fraud report which notes business email compromise (BEC) scams garnered nearly 25,000 reports and amounted to more than $3 billion in monetary losses.

Many consumer scams exploit a false sense of urgency and fear, where scammers manipulate their victims into acting without careful consideration. These impersonation scams are rampant, and IC3’s data details that nearly 200,000 fraud reports were from phishing and spoofing in 2025.

Another fraud type that made an impact last year is extortion-related schemes, which accounted for more than 89,000 reports. Extortion schemes occur when a scammer threatens you with arrest, data leaks, or publicly releasing compromising information. They then demand money (often cryptocurrency) in exchange for keeping you or your information safe.

Cryptocurrency’s impact is rising

Cryptocurrency was involved in more than 180,000 complaints and accounted for $11.3 billion in the losses reported last year, according to FTC. In its report, IC3’s data showed the U.S. lost $7.2 billion to crypto-related fraud in 2025.

Cryptocurrency’s role in fraud is most often related to investment scams and extortion scams like government imposters (jury duty, taxes or fees owed) and sextortion. These types of scams take place over a long period, and are organized and sophisticated, making them difficult to spot. Often, the “scammer” behind a crypto scheme is a crime syndicate or organized crime enterprise with a large “staff” of trafficked individuals being forced to run the operation.

Typically, crypto scams involve deceiving individuals into investing large amounts via fake investment platforms. Sometimes, the victim sees profits in their account, but, in reality, it’s the criminals who are manipulating the data to encourage additional investments. This process can take months as they continue to trick you into investing more and more.

Fraud demographics

Interestingly, the FTC data shows younger individuals reported more frequent losses to fraud (38% of victims were between the ages of 20 and 29), while older age groups experienced higher median losses per fraud event. These statistics are based solely on what is reported to the FTC, and we encourage anyone impacted by fraud to report it to provide a more accurate picture of fraud trends and how we can combat them.

The FBI’s Internet Crime Report for 2025‡ also states its largest complaint age group was older than 60, with more than 200,000 complaints and $7.75 billion in reported losses.

What can I do to avoid being scammed?

To avoid falling victim to these scams, take precautions such as questioning unsolicited calls or text messages, verifying the identity of the person before sharing any information, and calling back a trusted phone number to confirm payment arrangements, whether it is a friend, family member or a business who contacted you.

To protect yourself and your financial information, remember:

  • Do not share sensitive information like your full debit card number, PINs, account numbers, etc.
  • Do not allow anyone to remotely access your system
  • Do not disclose your online banking details (your bank will never ask for that!‡)
  • If you receive a suspicious call, hang up and dial the number on the back of your debit card.
  • If you receive a suspicious, confusing or unprompted text or email, do not click on the message. Instead, reach out to your financial institution through the number on the back of your cards, or call their official call center from their website.

If you have been the victim of fraud or any other scam, report the incident to the FTC‡.

Protecting health and wealth – Explore tips for protecting your financial future through the Protecting Health and Wealth playlist on the UMB Financial Education Center.

Check the UMB Privacy and Security Center to learn more about risk-mitigation best practices and view security alerts.

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