Americans lost a record $12.5 billion to fraud in 2024, with investment scams leading the losses

In brief: With so much of the world now online and more people considering themselves tech-savvy, one might imagine that scammers are struggling to con people out of money. The reality is that Americans lost more to fraud than ever before in 2024 - $12.5 billion. According to the FTC, the $12.5 billion Americans lost in 2024 to scams was up 25% compared to the $10 billion losses a year earlier. Surprisingly, the actual number of people who reported being the victim of a fraud, 2.6 million, didn't increase in 2024. What did increase was the percentage of people who lost money in these scams – up from 27% in 2023 to 38% last year. It seems scammers are getting better at convincing people to part with their cash. The highest losses came from investment scams. A massive $5.7 billion was lost through this type of fraud. The median loss for victims was over $9,000, more than any other scam category. Often known as pig butchering, a reference to fattening the animal up before slaughter, t ... Read full article.