Online scams are on the rise says the FBI

DORAL, FL – According to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center’s 2024 annual report, online scams are on the rise with a 33% increase from 2023. Eighty-three percent of losses were connected to the use of the internet or other technology.

The report combines information from 859,532 complaints of suspected internet crimes and details reported losses exceeding $16 billion.

Of the losses reported most were caused by fraud, while ransomware was positioned as the largest threat to critical infrastructure during last year and related complaints rose to 9%. 

Between the different types of scams, the report placed investment scams in the top of the list with the highest losses— more than $6.5 billion. Compromised business emails represented over $2.7 billion in losses, tech support scams, more than $1.4 billion, personal data breaches, over $1.4 billion in losses, and more than $672 million were lost in romance scams. 

According to the FBI, most of the financial losses occurred through cryptocurrency transactions, with wire transfers and payments made by credit or debit cards also contributed significantly.

“As nearly all aspects of our lives have become digitally connected, the attack surface for cyber actors has grown exponentially,” the FBI’s Operations Director for Criminal and Cyber B. Chad Yarbrough said in a note attached to the report, reported CBS News. 

Among all U.S. states, California residents were the ones who suffered most losses and Vermont is said to be the state with the fewest reported losses. 

People over 60 have been the most affected with this scourge, filing more than 147,000 complaints and losing $4.8 billion—more than a quarter of the total losses reported in 2024 and a 43% increase from 2023, according to the report. 

In contrast, individuals younger than 20 were the least affected, reporting on average $22.5 million in losses in roughly 18,000 complaints in 2024.

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