Phishing accounts for 22 percent of reported scam incidents. Social media initiates 25 percent of fraud reports that result in losses. SMS-based phishing attempts have risen by 300 percent in the past two years.
Key Takeaways
- Phishing remains the top delivery method for scams accounting for 22% of reported incidents
- Tech support scams saw a 12% increase in reported incidents over the previous year
- Social media was the starting point for 25% of all fraud reports involving a loss
- Scammers use AI to clone voices in 25% of modern imposter scams
- Deepfake video scams increased 10-fold in the financial sector in 2023
- 70% of crypto-related scams are conducted through Telegram bots
- Consumers globally lost an estimated $1.02 trillion to scams in 2023
- The average loss per victim of an online scam is approximately $3,504
- Investment fraud was the costliest scam type in 2023 with losses totaling $4.57 billion
- The IC3 received 880,418 complaints in 2023, a 10% increase from 2022
- 44% of scam victims did not report the crime to anyone
- Over 75% of organizations worldwide experienced a phishing attack in 2023
- Approximately 1 in 4 people reported losing money to a scam in 2023
- Adults aged 60 and older reported the highest total losses at $3.4 billion
- Younger adults (20-29) report losing money to scams more frequently than older adults
Phishing and social engineering are escalating fast, with major losses driven by urgent, mobile, and AI enabled scams.
Related reading
01 · Category
Attack Vectors30 stats
01
Phishing remains the top delivery method for scams accounting for 22% of reported incidents
02
Tech support scams saw a 12% increase in reported incidents over the previous year
03
Social media was the starting point for 25% of all fraud reports involving a loss
04
SMS-based phishing (Smishing) increased by 300% in the last two years
05
QR code phishing (Quishing) rose by 50% in the Q4 of 2023
06
Remote access tool scams accounted for 10% of tech support fraud
07
18% of people clicked on a malicious link within an hour of receiving it
08
65% of investment scams involve a "pig butchering" tactic
09
Employment scams increased by 118% due to remote work popularity
10
40% of victims of romance scams reported that the contact started on a dating app
11
Mobile apps are the source of 15% of all reported scam initiations
12
92% of malware is delivered via email
13
33% of scam reports involved some form of social engineering
14
Direct deposit displacement scams increased by 27% in corporate environments
15
Scammers use 3,000 different "template" stories for romance scams annually
16
The success rate of phishing increases by 40% when the email mentions "urgent"
17
80% of reported phishing sites were hosted on reputable cloud platforms
18
Scammers use local area codes in 90% of robocalls to increase answering rates
19
The "Wrong Number" text scam is the fastest growing scam category in 2024
20
1 in 20 Facebook marketplace ads are estimated to be scams
21
Credit card skimming at gas pumps increased by 20% in the US South
22
Scammers spent over $100 million on YouTube ads to promote crypto scams
23
1 in 3 phishing emails are opened within the first 10 minutes of delivery
24
70% of social media scams involve "friend/family in need" impersonation
25
Scammers use legitimate file-sharing services (GDrive/Dropbox) in 30% of attacks
26
40% of phishing emails are sent from hacked legitimate accounts
27
60% of scam victims are targeted via mobile phone
28
22% of victims reported they were first contacted through a Google Search ad
29
"Vishing" (Voice Phishing) attacks increased by 15% in corporate environments
30
14% of phishing emails use "Invoice" as the subject line to trick users
Interpretation
Attack Vectors Interpretation
If the art of scamming were a business, its board would gleefully report record-breaking growth across all departments, from the social media division's deepfake family emergencies to the delivery team's urgent emails, proving that human vulnerability remains the most lucrative and scalable market of all.
02 · Category
Emerging Technologies23 stats
01
Scammers use AI to clone voices in 25% of modern imposter scams
02
Deepfake video scams increased 10-fold in the financial sector in 2023
03
70% of crypto-related scams are conducted through Telegram bots
04
80% of organizations reported an increase in AI-generated phishing emails
05
AI-powered chatbots are now used in 15% of customer service impersonation scams
06
Crypto drainers stole $300 million from 324,000 victims in 2023
07
AI generated phishing emails have a 3x higher click-through rate than traditional ones
08
14.5% of phishing URLs now use HTTPS to appear "secure"
09
30% of fraudulent crypto transactions are traced back to North Korean hackers
10
72% of malware in 2023 was "zero-day", unknown to traditional antivirus
11
Identity fraud via synthetic ID creation (combining real and fake data) rose 17%
12
Fraudulent LinkedIn profiles grew by 200% to facilitate job scams
13
AI voice cloning requires only 3 seconds of original audio to be effective
14
18% of BEC attacks now utilize some form of AI-generated text
15
Malware disguised as ChatGPT or AI tools increased by 400%
16
10% of ransomware attackers now use "triple extortion" (leak, DDoS, and employee contact)
17
Face-swapping deepfakes in KYC (Know Your Customer) systems rose by 700%
18
5 million "lookalike" domains were registered in 2023 for phishing
19
Generative AI tools have lowered the cost of creating a phishing site by 90%
20
The number of unique phishing templates found in the wild reached 1.2 million
21
Using multifactor authentication (MFA) blocks 99.9% of automated account scams
22
AI can now bypass "I am not a robot" CAPTCHAs with 95% accuracy for scam bots
23
75% of fraudulent investment apps are distributed through specialized scam networks
Interpretation
Emerging Technologies Interpretation
The sheer audacity of modern scammers is outmatched only by their eerie efficiency, having upgraded from clumsy emails to AI-powered doppelgängers and zero-day malware that collectively make your digital life feel like a heist movie where the thieves have everyone's voice, face, and a tragically high success rate.
03 · Category
Financial Impact30 stats
01
Consumers globally lost an estimated $1.02 trillion to scams in 2023
02
The average loss per victim of an online scam is approximately $3,504
03
Investment fraud was the costliest scam type in 2023 with losses totaling $4.57 billion
04
Business Email Compromise (BEC) accounted for $2.9 billion in adjusted losses in 2023
05
Romance scams resulted in a median loss of $2,000per individual
06
Fraudulent cryptocurrency investment losses rose by 53% in 2023
07
Ransomware loss reports grew by 74% to over $59.6 million
08
Bank transfer was the most common payment method for large losses
09
Australian citizens lost $3.1 billion to scams in 2023
10
The "Hello Mum/Dad" WhatsApp scam cost victims $7 million in Australia alone
11
Fake check scams resulted in personal losses of $2,500on average
12
Subscription traps and hidden charges cost consumers $1.3 billion
13
Real estate scams involving escrow fraud increased by 18%
14
60% of small businesses go out of business within six months of a major cyber scam
15
Non-delivery scams accounted for $391 million in losses
16
Government impersonation scams resulted in $618 million in losses
17
$1.1 billion was lost to business impersonation scams in 2023
18
NFT-related scam losses fell by 45% as market interest declined
19
Ransomware demands averaged $1.5 million per incident in the enterprise sector
20
Cryptocurrency was the payment method used in 40% of all scam losses by dollar amount
21
Fake medical bills scam stole $120 million from American families
22
Romance scam losses reached $1.3 billion globally in 2023
23
The median loss for people aged 18–19 was $160per scam
24
Fake rental listing scams cost US renters $21 million in 2023
25
Average loss for a Business Email Compromise victim is $137,000
26
Employment fraud reported losses doubled from $209 million to $491 million
27
Median loss for gift card scams is $700
28
Cryptocurrency "rug pulls" accounted for 20% of all crypto scam volume
29
Scams involving "overseas" wire transfers have a recovery rate of less than 1%
30
$2.6 billion was the total loss in 2023 to imposter scams specifically
Interpretation
Financial Impact Interpretation
The sheer scale and variety of online scams, from draining global economies a trillion dollars to swiping a grandparent's savings with a simple WhatsApp message, reveal not just a criminal industry but a sobering failure of our digital ecosystems to protect the vulnerable.
More related reading
04 · Category
Frequency and Volume30 stats
01
The IC3 received 880,418 complaints in 2023, a 10% increase from 2022
02
44% of scam victims did not report the crime to anyone
03
Over 75% of organizations worldwide experienced a phishing attack in 2023
04
Identity theft reports increased by 15% reaching 1.1 million cases
05
1.5 million new phishing sites are created every month
06
The UK reported 3.2 million fraud incidents in the 2023 year-end statistics
07
Personal data breaches decreased by 11% in report volume but increased in severity
08
Online shopping scams are the most frequently reported scam by volume
09
Credit card fraud reports totaled 416,582 in 2023
10
Charity scams increase by 40% during natural disaster periods
11
55% of global scam reports originate from just five countries
12
48% of people say they encounter a scam attempt at least once a day
13
Only 7% of identity theft victims are aware of the breach within 24 hours
14
Holiday-related scams peak between November 20 and December 25
15
Scam calls via WhatsApp increased by 400% in India in 2023
16
5% of all emails sent globally are estimated to be malicious phishing
17
9% of all scam reports involve "overpayment" fraud
18
Automated "robocalls" targeted 4 billion mobile numbers in one month
19
2.1 million fraud reports were received by the FTC in total for 2023
20
25% of all phishing attacks target financial institutions
21
Only 15% of phishing sites are active for more than 24 hours
22
Online betting/gambling scams increased by 80% during the World Cup
23
3% of all global web traffic is directed towards suspected malicious sites
24
50% of the world's scam-related IP addresses are in the Asia-Pacific region
25
2,400 people per day report an online scam that resulted in a loss
26
Travel scams, including fake airline ticket sales, increased by 40% in summer
27
Data from 300 million users was circulating on the dark web in 2023
28
1 in 100 people who receive a phishing email will enter their credentials
29
15,000 tech support scam reports are filed every month globally
30
Global losses to ATO (Account Takeover) fraud grew by 24%
Interpretation
Frequency and Volume Interpretation
Despite soaring reports and increasingly cunning tactics, the true menace of online scams lies in the chilling complacency between our near-daily encounters with them and our profound reluctance to sound the alarm.
05 · Category
Victim Demographics30 stats
01
Approximately 1 in 4 people reported losing money to a scam in 2023
02
Adults aged 60 and older reported the highest total losses at $3.4 billion
03
Younger adults (20-29) report losing money to scams more frequently than older adults
04
People with lower education levels are 12% more likely to fall for prize scams
05
Male victims lose 2.5 times more money on average to scams than females
06
Victims aged 70-79 had the highest median loss of $803per report
07
Victims who were contacted by phone lost more money than those contacted by email
08
12% of social media users have unknowingly shared a scam link
09
The average time to resolve an identity theft case is 165 hours
10
22% of victims reported suffering from mental health issues after a scam
11
85% of investment scam victims are male
12
The median loss for military personnel to scams is 25% higher than civilians
13
Users in the US are 10 times more likely to be targeted by gift card scams than Europeans
14
50% of people who lose money to a scam were trying to buy a product
15
Lottery scams remain the top scam method targeting people over 80
16
Victims who engage in dialogue with a scammer are 10x more likely to lose money
17
1 in 10 teen gamers have been targeted by "free skin" or "free currency" scams
18
15% of scam victims are "repeat victims" who have been scammed twice in one year
19
Education sector saw a 30% increase in phishing attacks on students
20
66% of people trust message content more if it comes via SMS than email
21
The average time a scammer spends "grooming" a victim is 6 weeks
22
Victims who had been warned previously were 60% less likely to lose money
23
25% of identity theft victims are children whose SSN was stolen
24
95% of cybercrime involves some level of human error or social engineering
25
Victims who pay a "verification fee" for a loan are 85% likely to be scammed again
26
12% of small businesses have no cybersecurity protection against scams
27
80% of victims of investment scams are over the age of 45
28
Victims under 20 lost $210 million in total in 2023
29
50% of people use the same password for banking and social media, increasing scam risk
30
The "grandparent scam" costs individual victims an average of $9,000
Interpretation
Victim Demographics Interpretation
Scammers, it seems, are equal-opportunity predators who expertly tailor their cruelty, from the young who fall for them more often to the old who lose more when they do, proving that in the digital age our shared human vulnerabilities are the most valuable currency of all.
Reference
Cite This Report
This report is designed to be cited. We maintain stable URLs and versioned verification dates. Copy the format appropriate for your publication below.
APA
Marie Larsen. (2026, February 13). Online Scam Statistics. Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/online-scam-statistics
MLA
Marie Larsen. "Online Scam Statistics." Gitnux, 13 Feb 2026, https://gitnux.org/online-scam-statistics.
Chicago
Marie Larsen. 2026. "Online Scam Statistics." Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/online-scam-statistics.
Sources & references
27 datasets cited across this report · attribution is report-level
akamai.com