The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has revealed that the United States saw a sharp jump in cybersecurity-related crimes during 2025, costing Americans close to $21 billion.
While investment scams were the most popular type of scam during the year, cryptocurrency fraud was responsible for the largest losses.
Artificial Intelligence-related scams are included in the report for the first time ever.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation Internet Crime Report 2025 was published this week. The report says the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) received 1,008,597 total complaints, which is a horrifying leap from the 859,532 reported during 2024.
The most frequently reported scams included extortion, investment schemes, and phishing/spoofing schemes. Approximately 453,000 of the fraud complaints received by IC3 involved cyber scams, with losses of more than $17.7 billion.
Investments schemes remains the most popular scheme, accounting for close to 49% of all scam-related losses. Cryptocurrency scams resulted in the highest losses, with 181,565 complaints totaling over $11 billion.
Advancements in Artificial Intelligence means AI-powered fraud is on the rise, as it is now child’s play for bad guys to create copies of friends’ and family members’ voices, create deepfake videos, and create fraudulent yet realistic looking documents. This has led to the IC3 report to include a section on AI-related scams for the first time ever.
AI-related crimes accounted for 22,364 complaints, costing Americans nearly $893 million.
The FBI has detailed information on the top 20 separate categories of fraud on its website.
Don’t allow scammers to create a false sense of urgency. Bad actors can use AI to create realistic looking fakes, including bank statements and transaction receipts, to make the targeted victim believe all is lost if they don’t take immediate action! Scammers will also try to convince you that your child or grandchild is in deep trouble and only you can save them!
The FBI advises that you “take a beat” when you are presented with such a seemingly urgent situation. Resist the urge to react immediately. Instead, hang up and contact your bank or card provider at the phone number on the back of your credit or debit card.
Contact your family member or close friend at a known-good phone number to determine if they are actually in peril (they’re not). Set up a password or keyphrase that can be used by spouses or other family members to confirm their identity.
Seniors are an attractive target for bad actors. Try to educate your older relatives and friends about these types of scams, and how they can avoid falling victim to such scams.