Americans Lost an Estimated $148 Billion to Online Scams & Crimes in 2025

Up Nearly 26% From 2024, $1009 Per Household Average, Americans lost an estimated $148.2 billion to online scams & crimes in 2025, up 25.8% from 2024, a per household loss of $1,009, according to an updated report from the Consumer Federation of America (CFA). This “true” cost of scams is over seven times higher than what was reported to the FBI in 2025. Further, over half of all reported losses involve cryptocurrency, which surged 21.93% since 2024, with $11.4B in reported losses and an estimated true cost of $80.7 billion. AI-enabled fraud, measured for the first time this year, added another $6.3 billion. The $148 billion estimate builds on the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) data, which recorded just $20.8 billion in reported losses for 2025 — underscoring the scale of harm that goes unreported to authorities. Seniors (60+), in particular, remained the largest targeted demographic and saw an increase of over 60% in reported losses, averaging a staggering $38,500 per reported incident. The under-20 age group remains the smallest, but saw a 198% increase in reported losses from 2024. “This update shows that the troubling trend of rapidly increasing scam losses continues while tech companies are too often allowed to avoid accountability,” said Ben Winters, Director of AI and Privacy at the Consumer Federation of America. “The good news is that policymakers are beginning to respond, from new lawsuits and the SCAM Act in Congress, to growing momentum in state legislatures across the country. But this crisis demands additional bold action through legislation, enforcement, and public education at every level, including holding tech companies accountable for the role they play in enabling online scams.” “Seniors are the top target for online scams, and AI is making those scams more convincing and harder to spot. The billions of dollars Arizona families are losing to fraud should be paying for groceries, rent, and other necessities,” said Senator Mark Kelly (D-AZ). “That’s why I introduced the bipartisan Senior Chatbot Protection Act to require companies to clearly disclose when consumers are interacting with AI and strengthen protections for older Americans. People deserve to know whether they’re talking to a machine or a person, and CFA’s report makes clear that Congress needs to act now.” The newly measured category of AI-enabled fraud – which added $6.3 billion to the national online scam total – includes technology that enables the creation of convincing synthetic content, such as social media profiles and personalized conversations, often in mass quantities. This AI-enabled content is becoming increasingly difficult to detect and easier to make.Social media platforms, specifically Meta-owned Facebook and Instagram, are the platforms most commonly associated with online scams. Investigative reporting has illustrated how these companies profit heavily from the presence of scam content on their platforms..”