Online scammers remain highly active, with fraud losses continuing to rise significantly in recent years, driven by AI-enhanced tactics like phishing, deepfakes, voice cloning, and impersonation schemes. Note that official statistics (e.g., from the FTC and FBI) reflect reported cases only—actual figures are likely much higher due to under-reporting.

Key Recent Statistics (Primarily from 2024–2025 Data, as of Early 2026)

U.S. Reported Losses:

• FTC data: Consumers reported losing over $12.5 billion to fraud in 2024 (a 25% increase from the prior year).
• FBI IC3 (Internet Crime Complaint Center): Reported losses exceeded $16 billion in 2024 from 859,532 complaints (a 33% increase from 2023), with cyber-enabled fraud accounting for nearly 83% of losses (~$13.7 billion in that category alone).

Global and Broader Trends:

• Globally, approximately 608 million people fall victim to scams each year, with losses exceeding $1 trillion.
• In a 2025 global survey (across 42 markets, ~46,000 adults): 57% of adults worldwide experienced a scam in the past 12 months, and 23% lost money. Shopping scams affected 54% of victims, while investment and unexpected money scams each hit 48%.
• Mastercard/Harris Poll (2025, 13 countries): 80% of global consumers received a scam attempt in the last year; nearly 60% believe being scammed is inevitable due to pervasiveness.

• U.S.-focused: 73% of U.S. adults have experienced at least one online scam or cyberattack (Pew Research, 2025), with many receiving scam calls, texts, or emails weekly.

Phishing and AI-Driven Scams (Major Drivers in 2025–2026)

• An estimated 3.4 billion phishing emails are sent daily (about 1.2% of global email traffic).
• Phishing attacks saw a 400% rise in success rates in 2025 due to AI tools.
• Other surges: Toll road text scams increased 900% in 2025; job-related scams spiked 1,000% in parts of 2025 (building on 2024’s $501 million in losses).
• Emerging 2026 threats: Deepfakes, voice cloning (possible with just seconds of audio), AI chatbots impersonating people (26% of people surveyed encountered or knew someone who did on dating/social apps), and automated phishing kits enabling mass attacks.

Scams often start via text/email (e.g., $470 million in U.S. text-based scam losses in 2024), with web-based contact now overtaking phone calls in many cases. Younger people (Gen Z/millennials) report higher engagement with scams, while older adults tend to suffer larger individual losses.

To stay safe: Verify sources independently, avoid unsolicited requests for money/info, use multi-factor authentication, and report suspicions to ftc.gov or ic3.gov. Trends evolve quickly with AI, so vigilance is key.