State of Online Scams 2026: Record Losses, AI Threats, and What You Need to Know

Record $20.9 Billion Stolen — AI Deepfakes, Social Media Fraud, and the Scams Defining 2026

Americans reported losing more than $20 billion to online scams and cybercrime in 2025, the highest figure ever recorded by the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center in its 25-year history. That is a 26% increase from 2024, nearly six times the losses recorded in 2019, and a number that experts agree dramatically understates the true scale since most victims never file a report.

The FTC separately recorded approximately $16 billion in reported fraud losses for 2025, also a record. Complaints to the FBI crossed one million for the first time in IC3’s history. Nearly 3,000 reports were filed every single day.

Social Catfish, a company dedicated to fighting online scams through identity verification and reverse search technology, is releasing this annual State of Online Scams report based on the most recent data from the FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center, the Federal Trade Commission, and our own proprietary survey research. Our goal is to give every American the clearest possible picture of the fraud landscape and the tools to protect themselves and the people they love.

Record Number of Victims and Losses Over Seven Years

The trajectory is unambiguous. What began as $3.5 billion in reported losses in 2019 has grown without interruption to $20.9 billion in 2025. The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated scam activity in 2020, and it has never slowed down.

Key figures from the 2025 FBI IC3 Annual Report:

• $20.877 billion in total reported cybercrime losses — highest on record
• 1,008,597 total complaints filed — first time over one million in IC3’s 25-year history
• Nearly 3,000 complaints filed every single day
• $20,699 average loss per victim
• 26% increase in losses from 2024
• Investment fraud alone accounted for $8.648 billion — more than 40% of all losses
• The FBI froze $679 million in fraudulent transfers — less than 4% of total reported losses

Both the FTC and FBI acknowledge that the true losses are significantly higher. Research consistently shows that fewer than one in five scam victims ever files an official report. The real cost to Americans in 2025 likely exceeds $80 billion when unreported losses are factored in.

Key Findings

• 5 Costliest Online Scams in 2025: Investment fraud ($8.648 billion), Business Email Compromise ($3.046 billion), Tech Support scams ($2.134 billion), Government Impersonation ($920 million), Romance and Confidence Fraud ($584 million from the elder fraud category alone)
• AI Makes Its Official Debut in Scam Data: The FBI tracked AI-related crime for the first time, 22,364 complaints totaling $893 million. An estimated 78% of cryptocurrency investment fraud victims were completely unaware they were being scammed at the time
• Social Media Is the Dominant Entry Point: $2.1 billion in social media scam losses in 2025, eight times higher than in 2020. Facebook generated more scam losses than all text and email scams combined
• Imposter Scams Are Number One for the Ninth Consecutive Year: $3.5 billion in losses, up 20% from 2024. Government impersonation complaints nearly doubled from 17,367 in 2024 to 32,424 in 2025
• Elder Fraud Has Reached Crisis Level: Adults 60 and older lost $7.748 billion, a 59% increase from 2024. Average loss per senior victim: $38,500. A total of 12,444 seniors each lost more than $100,000
• 5 States That Lost the Most: California ($2.2 billion), Texas ($1 billion), Florida ($875 million), New York ($750 million), New Jersey ($441 million)
• Most Scammed States Per Capita: Washington D.C., Alaska, Nevada, Arizona, Georgia
• Only 19.67% of Scam Victims Report to the FTC: From our survey of 6,000 online scam victims, the largest poll of its kind ever conducted. The reporting gap means the official numbers represent only a fraction of actual scam activity

The Five Biggest Scam Trends of 2026

Trend 1: AI Is Making Scams Harder to Detect Than Ever Before

The FBI formally tracked AI-related crime for the first time in its 2025 annual report, 22,364 complaints totaling $893 million in documented losses. That figure almost certainly understates the reality since most victims do not realize AI was involved in the scam that targeted them.

What AI is doing to scams in 2026:

• Generating unlimited unique profile photos that have never existed anywhere online, traditional reverse image search no longer catches these fake profiles
• Writing scam scripts and messages that are grammatically perfect, emotionally calibrated, and free of the spelling errors that previously gave scammers away
• Cloning voices from as little as 30 seconds of audio is used to impersonate family members in fake emergency calls and to create convincing phone scams
• Creating deepfake videos of celebrities and public figures promoting fake investment platforms, Elon Musk, Warren Buffett, and other business figures have all been impersonated in documented investment fraud campaigns
• Powering chatbots capable of sustaining weeks of emotionally resonant conversation, maintaining consistent scam personas across multiple victims simultaneously

The FBI’s Operation Level Up found that 78% of cryptocurrency investment fraud victims they proactively notified were completely unaware they were being scammed at the time of contact. That is the power of AI-enhanced social engineering; it does not feel like a scam while it is happening.

Trend 2: Social Media Is the Dominant Scam Entry Point

Social media scam losses reached $2.1 billion in 2025, eight times higher than in 2020, according to the FTC. Nearly 30% of all people who reported losing money to a scam said it started on social media.

Key findings:

• Facebook generated more scam losses than all text and email scams combined
• WhatsApp and Instagram were the second and third most reported platforms
• Shopping scams were the most reported type, 40% of social media scam victims ordered something from a fake ad
• Nearly 60% of romance scam victims said their scam started on a social media platform
• Investment scams originating on social media generated $1.1 billion, more than half of all social media scam losses
• Scammers use the same targeting tools as legitimate advertisers; they can reach exactly the right victim profile by age, location, interests, and shopping behavior

Trend 3: Imposter Scams Are the Number One Threat For the Ninth Year Running

Imposter scams were the most reported fraud category for the ninth consecutive year, with reported losses increasing nearly 20% to $3.5 billion. Government impersonation nearly doubled from 17,367 complaints in 2024 to 32,424 in 2025.

The biggest drivers:

• Fake toll collection messages scammers spoofed real toll programs, including EZPass, SunPass, FasTrak, and TxTag with urgent payment demands threatening late fees and registration suspension
• IRS impersonation, fake tax debt notices, and identity verification requests, with 152 new IRS-themed malicious domains registered in 2026 alone
• Social Security Administration impersonation, fake account suspension alerts claiming the victim’s SSN has been compromised
• Bank impersonation fake security alerts asking victims to move money to a safe account to protect it from fraud. Losses from this pattern are limited only by available funds

The fake bank security alert is one of the most financially devastating patterns in 2026. A victim is convinced their money is at risk and must be transferred immediately to protect it. By the time they realize what happened the money is gone.

Trend 4: Investment Fraud and Pig Butchering at Record Scale

Investment fraud losses reached $8.648 billion in 2025, the single largest crime category tracked by the FBI, accounting for more than 40% of all cybercrime losses. Cryptocurrency-related investment schemes drove the majority at $7.2 billion.

Pig butchering scams, where victims are emotionally cultivated over weeks or months before being introduced to fraudulent investment platforms, now operate at an industrial scale from organized crime compounds in Southeast Asia. The FBI’s Scam Center Strike Force specifically targets Chinese organized crime affiliates operating in Cambodia, Laos, and Myanmar, running these operations.

How pig butchering works:

• Contact begins through a dating app, social media, or a wrong-number text that feels accidental
• The scammer builds trust and emotional connection over weeks — often using AI to maintain the persona across multiple victims simultaneously
• An investment opportunity is introduced casually — usually cryptocurrency
• The victim is shown fake gains on a convincing platform and allowed to make small withdrawals to build confidence
• Larger deposits are encouraged, often leading victims to take out loans or liquidate retirement savings
• When the victim tries to withdraw, the platform demands fees or locks the account
• The scammer disappears with everything

Americans who submitted complaints involving cryptocurrency reported the highest losses of any payment category, 181,565 complaints totaling more than $11 billion.

Trend 5: Elder Fraud Has Reached Crisis Level

Adults 60 and older filed 201,266 complaints in 2025, up 37% from the prior year. Their reported losses reached $7.748 billion, a 59% increase from 2024. The average loss per senior victim was $38,500, nearly double the overall average of $20,699. A total of 12,444 seniors each lost more than $100,000.

The most damaging scam types targeting older adults:

• Investment fraud: $3.5 billion
• Tech support scams: $1.04 billion
• Romance and confidence scams: $584 million

Scammers deliberately target older adults because they are more likely to have retirement savings, more likely to trust institutional authority, and less likely to question urgent demands from people claiming to represent banks, government agencies, or technology companies. AI makes these scams more convincing across every category by eliminating the telltale signs of poor grammar, obvious scripts, and suspicious delays that previously helped victims recognize fraud.

Top Scam Types of 2026 — How They Work and How to Spot Them

Investment Fraud and Pig Butchering

$8.648 billion in losses was the most financially devastating category for the second consecutive year. Most victims lose their entire investment, and many go into debt attempting to recover it.

Red flags:

• Someone you met online introduces an investment opportunity
• The platform shows consistent gains and allows a small initial withdrawal to build confidence
• You are encouraged to invest more before withdrawing your full balance
• Fees are required to release a withdrawal this is always the final theft mechanism
• The person who introduced you becomes unreachable

Business Email Compromise

$3.046 billion in losses. Scammers pose as company executives or trusted vendors and send fraudulent emails instructing employees to transfer money. These attacks target organizations of every size.

Red flags:

• Urgent wire transfer request from a CEO or senior executive email
• Request to change payment account details for a known vendor
• Pressure to act quickly and keep the transaction confidential
• Email address that looks correct but differs by one character

Tech Support Scams

$2.134 billion in losses. A pop-up appears, warning that your device has been compromised. A number is provided for Apple, Microsoft, or another tech company. The representative asks for remote access or gift card payment.

Red flags:

• Unsolicited pop-up with a phone number to call
• Request for remote access to your device
• Request for payment via gift cards, wire transfer, or cryptocurrency
• Pressure to act before the supposed problem gets worse

Government Impersonation

$920 million in losses, up significantly from the prior year. IRS, Social Security, Medicare, toll agencies, and law enforcement agencies are all actively impersonated. Government impersonation complaints nearly doubled in 2025.

Red flags:

• Any government agency contacting you by phone demanding immediate payment
• Threats of arrest, account suspension, or legal action unless you pay now
• Requests for payment via gift cards, cryptocurrency, or wire transfer
• Caller ID showing an official government number — these are routinely spoofed

Romance and Confidence Scams

$1.48 billion in losses across all age groups, up 22% from the prior year. Average loss per victim: $2,020. Nearly 60% of victims said the scam started on a social media platform.

Red flags:

• Relationship escalates unusually fast, intense feelings are declared within days or weeks
• Person is always unavailable for video calls or uses pre-recorded footage
• Claims to be deployed, working abroad, or otherwise unable to meet in person
• Introduces a financial emergency or investment opportunity after trust is established
• Requests money via gift cards, wire transfer, or cryptocurrency

Insights From Our Survey of 6,000 Online Scam Victims

In 2024, Social Catfish conducted the largest poll of online scam victims ever undertaken, surveying more than 6,000 individuals about their experiences. The findings provide a window into the human reality behind the statistics.

Popular Platforms for Scams

Facebook was the leading platform where scam victims reported being targeted 27.91% of respondents encountered their scam on Facebook. Instagram followed at 12.85% and WhatsApp at 12.45%. Dating apps, including Tinder and Bumble, each saw around 1% of reports, with Hinge and Plenty of Fish each below 1%.

Common Payment Methods Used by Scammers

Gift cards were the most common payment method demanded by scammers at 43.35% of cases, consistent with FTC data showing gift cards as the top payment method in fraud year after year. Cryptocurrency accounted for 26.99% of cases, and wire transfer and bank transfer accounted for 25.15%.

Reporting Gap

Only 19.67% of our survey respondents reported their scam experience to the FTC, despite 80.33% having been scammed. This highlights the significant gap between actual scam activity and what appears in official statistics, and explains why $20 billion in FBI-reported losses almost certainly represents a fraction of true losses.

Consequences Beyond the Financial Loss

The impact of scams extends well beyond money:

• 47.41% of respondents faced financial hardship including lost homes, significant debt, and depleted savings
• 56.52% reported emotional distress including thoughts of suicide, anxiety, and depression
• 28.99% experienced relationship strain with family members or partners
• Only 19.67% filed an official report. Shame, confusion, and lack of awareness about reporting channels keep the majority of victims silent

AI-Driven Scam Victimization

A significant 38.87% of respondents reported that they or someone they knew had fallen victim to a scam involving AI technologies such as deepfake videos or AI-generated audio. Among those scammed by AI-driven techniques:

• Romance scams were the most common at 64.13%
• Phishing attempts accounted for 21.28%
• Investment scams accounted for 6.38%
• Political scams accounted for 2.43%

Confidence in Detecting Deepfakes

Only 12.24% of respondents were aware of tools to detect deepfake videos. Just over half 50.93% expressed low confidence in their ability to identify AI-generated content. This reflects a growing need for public education about how to recognize AI-manipulated media before it causes harm.

States That Lost the Most Money to Online Scams — 2025

California was the hardest-hit state, with residents losing a combined $3.67 billion — up 44.7% from 2024. Texas ranked second at $1.83 billion, followed by Florida at $1.6 billion, New York at $1.23 billion, and New Jersey at $660 million.

States With the Highest Rates of Online Scam Reports Per Capita

When adjusting for population size, the picture shifts. Washington D.C. ranks first in the nation with 1,714 reports per 100,000 residents, followed by Alaska (1,624), Nevada (1,598), Arizona (1,571), and Georgia (1,547). Six of the top ten most-scammed states per capita, D.C., Georgia, Florida, Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia, are on the East Coast.

Want to see how every state and the country’s top 50 metro areas rank? We built a full interactive breakdown. Check out the complete 2026 State of Scams data resource at ScamComplaints.org.

How the Rise of AI Is Changing Scams — What to Watch For

The Rise of AI-Generated Profile Photos

Traditional reverse image search, one of the most reliable tools for catching fake profiles, is losing effectiveness against AI-generated images. Tools like Midjourney and similar platforms can generate unlimited unique faces that have never appeared anywhere online. No reverse image search will find a match because the image does not exist anywhere else.

What to look for in AI-generated profile photos:

• Unnaturally perfect skin with no pores, blemishes, or visible texture variation
• Hands and fingers that look wrong — extra digits, fused fingers, or unnatural proportions
• Backgrounds with subtle distortions — straight lines that curve, surfaces with inconsistent texture
• Earrings that are asymmetrical, partially dissolved into hair, or structurally impossible
• Eyes that are perfectly symmetrical — real human faces are always subtly asymmetric
• Hair that appears rendered rather than photographed — too uniform, no flyaways

How to Spot AI in Scam Conversations

• Perfect grammar and punctuation in every message — real people make occasional typos
• Instant responses at any hour — AI does not sleep or have natural activity patterns
• Generic answers to specific questions — ask what they had for breakfast and a real person gives a specific answer
• Emotional escalation faster than is natural — declarations of love within days of first contact
• Consistent avoidance of live video calls — AI cannot maintain a convincing real-time deepfake of someone else’s face

The Video Call Test

Video calls are no longer a guaranteed verification method, as real-time deepfake technology exists. However, it has exploitable limitations:

• Ask them to wave their hand rapidly in front of their face — real-time deepfakes struggle with rapid occlusion and may glitch at the moment of overlap
• Ask for a spontaneous specific action — hold up a piece of paper with today’s date written on it
• Ask what is on the wall directly behind them — AI cannot improvise specific real-world details convincingly

How to Protect Yourself From Online Scams in 2026

The single most effective protection across every scam category is slowing down. Urgency is a scammer’s most powerful weapon. Any situation that requires immediate financial action, regardless of how official it appears or how much pressure is applied, is a scam signal.

Romance and relationship scams:

• Verify anyone you meet online before sending money or sharing personal information
• Run their profile photo through a reverse image search to check if it appears elsewhere
• Run their phone number, email, or username through Social Catfish to confirm their identity across platforms before trusting them with anything personal or financial
• Request a live video call with spontaneous physical actions to test for deepfake or pre-recorded footage

Investment scams:

• Never invest based on advice from someone you met online regardless of how much you trust them
• Verify any investment platform independently search the platform name plus the word scam
• If someone showed you a profit and now needs fees to release your withdrawal, the money was never real and sending fees will not recover it

Government impersonation:

• Hang up and call the agency directly using a number from their official website
• No government agency accepts gift cards, cryptocurrency, or wire transfers as payment under any circumstances
• The IRS contacts taxpayers by mail first, never by phone, demanding immediate payment

Tech support:

• Legitimate companies do not send pop-up alerts asking you to call a number
• Never give remote access to an unsolicited caller
• Never buy gift cards to pay for any technical support service

Social media:

• Research any company before purchasing from a social media ad
• Search the company name plus scam or complaint before entering any payment details
• Use a credit card rather than a debit card or payment apps for online purchases. Credit cards have buyer protection that payment apps do not

What to Do If You Were Scammed

Act immediately; every hour matters for fund recovery.

• Stop all payments immediately and do not send additional money regardless of the story you are given
• Document everything screenshots, transaction records, email threads, phone numbers, and any profile information
• Contact your bank or payment provider immediately. Faster action increases the chances of recovery
• Report to the FTC at reportfraud.ftc.gov
• File with the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center at ic3.gov
• If cryptocurrency was involved report to the FBI’s Operation Level Up which has recovered over $500 million for victims
• If the scam started on a dating app or social media report the account to the platform directly

On recovery: the FBI’s Financial Fraud Kill Chain froze over $679 million in fraudulent transfers in 2025 with a 58% success rate on intervened cases. Reporting quickly is the single most important factor in whether recovery is possible.

If you met the scammer online and want to verify who they actually are before filing your report, run their name, phone number, photo, or email through Social Catfish. Their real identity, associated accounts, and other contact details strengthen your report and may help authorities identify and stop the operation before more victims are harmed.

Social Catfish’s Commitment to Scam Awareness

Social Catfish has been at the forefront of online identity verification and scam awareness since its founding. This annual State of Online Scams report is part of our commitment to publishing accurate, data-driven information about the fraud landscape to help individuals protect themselves and the people they love.

The most consistent finding across all scam categories in 2026 is that verification stops fraud before it starts. Knowing who you are actually talking to before you send money, share personal information, or trust someone with anything of value is the single most effective protective step available.

Social Catfish’s reverse search tools allow you to verify anyone you meet online by searching their name, phone number, email address, or photo across hundreds of platforms simultaneously. If the identity is real and consistent, you will know. If something does not add up, you will know that too before it costs you.

Run a free search on Social Catfish