GoKawiilThe Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has reported that Americans lost almost $21 billion due to cybercrime in 2025 — a 26% increase from the previous year, with the number of victims surpassing one million people. According to the agency’s report [PDF], $11.366 billion of these losses involved cryptocurrency, with 181, 565 complaints filed at the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3). The agency also determined that scammers have started using AI to create deepfake videos and fake social profiles, as well as clone voices and IDs, with $893 million lost in related attacks.
Most of the amount was stolen through investment scams, which cost $8.64 billion, while $3 billion was lost due to business email compromise. Losses due to tech/customer support scams reached more than $2.1 billion, while losses due to personal data breaches amounted to $1.3 billion. The top five are rounded up by confidence/romance scams, which cost victims $929 million.
This is the largest amount lost and the greatest number of people affected by online scams, according to IC3’s history. Cryptocurrency was also used in more than half of the amount lost, especially because of how easy it is for criminals to launder the stolen funds and make them difficult or impossible to recover. In fact, the FBI reported that more than $333 million was lost last year via Bitcoin ATMs, with most victims aged more than 60 years old. Note that the report does not include cryptocurrency stolen from platforms, like the $40 million taken from Step Finance and $270 million Drift is suspected to have lost in attacks earlier this year. Instead, the $11.366 billion figure relates to scam losses that were transacted in BTC, ETH, and other cryptocurrencies directly from individuals.
Article continues below
Nevertheless, U.S. authorities are taking steps to reduce the losses and the number of victims. The IC3 established the Recovery Asset Team (RAT) in 2018, which would initiate a Financial Fraud Kill Chain (FFKC) when complaints are filed as quickly as possible. The group has addressed 3,900 incidents through the FFKC, freezing more than $678 million in stolen funds. Unfortunately, the agency has its work cut out, especially as technological advancements like AI make it easier for scammers to victimize people, especially older ones who are unfamiliar with these new tech.
Follow Tom's Hardware on Google News, or add us as a preferred source, to get our latest news, analysis, & reviews in your feeds.