US govt says Americans lost record $12.5 billion to fraud in 2024

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) said today that Americans lost a record $12.5 billion to fraud last year, a 25% increase over the previous year. Consumers reported that investment scams resulted in the highest losses, totaling around $5.7 billion with a median loss of over $9,000 and exceeding all other fraud categories. The second largest reported loss was linked with imposter scams, amounting to $2.95 billion in 2024. Younger people have also reported losing money to fraud more often than people over 70, as 44% of all reports filed last year came from consumers between 20 and 29. Job scams and fake employment agency losses have also jumped significantly in recent years, with the number of reports nearly tripling and losses growing from $90 million to $501 million within just four years between 2020 and 2024. "People lost over $3 billion to scams that started online, compared to approximately $1.9 billion lost to more 'traditional' contact methods like calls, texts, or ema ... Read full article.