With fraud reports soaring into the millions and losses climbing to shocking new heights globally, understanding the relentless surge of scams has never been more critical for protecting yourself and your finances.
Key Takeaways
- In 2023, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) received 2.6 million reports of fraud, marking a 10% increase from 2022.
- Globally, cyber scams cost victims an estimated $1 trillion annually according to Interpol.
- The FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) reported 880,418 cybercrime complaints in 2023, with scams comprising 68% of total complaints.
- The median loss from imposter scams was $800 in 2023 per FTC.
- Total fraud losses reported to FTC reached $10 billion in 2023.
- FBI IC3 reported $12.5 billion in losses from cyber scams in 2023.
- In 2023, 40% of investment scams involved crypto per FTC.
- Phishing was the most common scam type, comprising 300,000 complaints to IC3 in 2023.
- Imposter scams made up 1.1 million reports to FTC in 2023.
- 70% of people over 70 reported scam attempts per AARP 2023 survey.
- Men lost more to investment scams ($1.5B) than women ($1.1B) in 2023 per FTC.
- 80% of romance scam victims were women aged 30-60 per FTC.
- FTC recovered $392 million from scams in 2023.
- FBI IC3 referred 72,000 complaints leading to 4,800 arrests in 2023.
- Operation First Light by Interpol arrested 3,500 scammers in 2023.
Scam reports and losses rose alarmingly across the globe in 2023.
Enforcement and Recovery
- FTC recovered $392 million from scams in 2023.
- FBI IC3 referred 72,000 complaints leading to 4,800 arrests in 2023.
- Operation First Light by Interpol arrested 3,500 scammers in 2023.
- UK's National Crime Agency seized £50 million in scam assets.
- Australia's AFP arrested 200 in Operation Ironside scam busts.
- Nigeria's EFCC convicted 4,000 scammers and recovered $800 million.
- India's I4C portal led to 2,000 arrests for cyber fraud.
- BBB Scam Tracker helped prevent $100 million losses.
- AARP Fraud Watch Network trained 1 million on prevention.
- FTC sued 100 scam operations, shutting down 30 in 2023.
- IC3's recovery rate for BEC was 20% of losses.
- Europol dismantled 50 investment scam rings in 2023.
- Chainalysis helped freeze $2 billion in crypto scam funds.
- Google suspended 2 million scam-promoting accounts in 2023.
- Microsoft disrupted 600 phishing domains daily.
- PayPal refunded $1 billion to scam victims.
- Visa's fraud prevention returned $25 billion to consumers.
- FBI seized $200 million in crypto from scams.
- CAFC Canada recovered CAD 10 million for victims.
- 85% of reported scams prevented by early reporting per FTC.
Enforcement and Recovery Interpretation
Behind these impressive recovery statistics lies an armada of overworked heroes, proving that while we can't stop scammers from being born, we can make their professional lives an absolute misery.
Financial Impact
- The median loss from imposter scams was $800 in 2023 per FTC.
- Total fraud losses reported to FTC reached $10 billion in 2023.
- FBI IC3 reported $12.5 billion in losses from cyber scams in 2023.
- Investment scams caused $4.6 billion in losses in 2023 per FTC.
- BEC scams led to $2.9 billion in losses according to IC3 2023 report.
- Romance scams resulted in $1.3 billion losses in 2023 per FTC.
- Crypto scams saw $5.6 billion in losses reported to IC3 in 2023.
- Elderly victims lost $3.4 billion to scams in 2023 per FTC.
- UK fraud losses totaled £2.3 billion from online shopping scams in 2023.
- Australia reported AUD 2.3 billion in scam losses for 2023 via Scamwatch.
- In Canada, fraud losses hit CAD 530 million in 2023 per CAFC.
- India's cyber fraud losses exceeded INR 1.25 trillion in 2023.
- BBB reported $1.2 billion in scam losses tracked in 2023.
- AARP noted $28 billion annual losses from elder fraud globally.
- Phishing scams cost businesses $4.9 million on average per breach in 2023 per Verizon DBIR.
- Tech support scams averaged $500 loss per victim in 2023 per FTC.
- Job scams led to $492 million losses in 2023 per FTC.
- Grandparent scams cost $100 million in 2023 per AARP.
- Prize scams resulted in $340 million losses per IC3 2023.
- Online dating scams averaged $2,500 loss per victim in 2023.
- IRS imposter scams caused $50 million losses in 2023.
- Government imposter scams totaled $789 million losses per FTC 2023.
- Wire transfer scams in BEC averaged $120,000 loss per incident in 2023.
- Ransomware scams linked to $1 billion losses in 2023 per FBI.
Financial Impact Interpretation
The world's criminals are running a multi-trillion-dollar, globe-spanning franchise where love, fear, greed, and a fake tech support pop-up are all just different departments in the same grift.
Prevalence Statistics
- In 2023, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) received 2.6 million reports of fraud, marking a 10% increase from 2022.
- Globally, cyber scams cost victims an estimated $1 trillion annually according to Interpol.
- The FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) reported 880,418 cybercrime complaints in 2023, with scams comprising 68% of total complaints.
- In the UK, Action Fraud recorded over 765,000 scam reports in 2023, up 12% from the previous year.
- Better Business Bureau Scam Tracker received more than 200,000 scam reports in 2023 across North America.
- AARP's Fraud Watch Network hotline received 128,000 calls in 2023 reporting potential scams.
- Europol reported a 300% rise in investment scam reports across Europe from 2020 to 2023.
- In Australia, Scamwatch recorded 105,000 scam reports in 2023, totaling over AUD 2.3 billion in losses.
- Nigeria's EFCC reported handling 15,000 scam cases in 2023, with over 3,000 arrests.
- India's cybercrime portal received 1.1 million complaints in 2023, 40% related to financial scams.
- In Canada, the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre reported 18,000 fraud cases in 2023.
- South Africa's SAPS cybercrime unit investigated 12,500 scam reports in 2023.
- Brazil's Federal Police seized assets from 2,500 scam operations in 2023.
- In 2023, the FTC noted romance scams as the top reported scam with 70,000 incidents.
- Phishing scams accounted for 36% of all cyber complaints to IC3 in 2023, totaling 300,000 reports.
- Tech support scams rose 25% in 2023 per BBB, with 45,000 reports.
- Job scams increased by 18% in 2023 according to FTC data.
- In Q4 2023, Google blocked 2.6 billion scam-related search results daily.
- Microsoft reported blocking 1.5 billion phishing attempts in 2023.
- Chainalysis noted $24.3 billion in crypto scam inflows in 2023.
- In 2023, 1 in 10 Americans reported being targeted by a scam weekly per Harris Poll.
- FTC data shows 400,000 elderly scam reports in 2023.
- Smishing (SMS phishing) reports doubled to 90,000 in 2023 per FTC.
- Investment scams topped BBB reports with 100,000 incidents in 2023.
- Globally, 300 million people fell victim to scams in 2023 per UNODC.
- In 2023, PayPal detected and blocked 10 million fraudulent transactions.
- Visa prevented $40 billion in scam potential losses in 2023.
- In 2023, 25% of all online transactions were flagged as potential scams by Mastercard.
- IC3 reported 150,000 business email compromise (BEC) scam attempts in 2023.
Prevalence Statistics Interpretation
It seems the global scamming economy is booming, with fraud now being one of the world's most popular non-consensual subscription services, as evidenced by a frankly insulting flood of statistics showing that everyone, from your grandparents to your inbox, is being relentlessly targeted.
Scam Types
- In 2023, 40% of investment scams involved crypto per FTC.
- Phishing was the most common scam type, comprising 300,000 complaints to IC3 in 2023.
- Imposter scams made up 1.1 million reports to FTC in 2023.
- Romance scams ranked #1 in median loss at $2,000 per FTC 2023 data.
- Investment scams were top by loss amount at $4.6 billion per FTC.
- Tech support scams totaled 80,000 reports to BBB in 2023.
- Job and employment scams surged to 100,000+ reports per FTC 2023.
- BEC scams were 21,000 complaints with high losses per IC3.
- Crypto investment scams comprised 10% of all IC3 complaints.
- Grandparent/emergency scams targeted 50,000 elders per AARP.
- IRS imposter phone scams hit 40,000 reports per FTC.
- Prize/lottery scams led to 25,000 complaints per BBB.
- Online shopping scams rose 15% with 150,000 UK reports.
- Smishing attacks numbered 90,000 per FTC 2023.
- Sextortion scams affected 12,600 minors per FBI 2023.
- Pig butchering scams caused $3 billion losses, mostly Asian diaspora.
- Advance fee scams like Nigerian prince persisted with 10,000 reports.
- Charity scams spiked post-disasters, 20,000 reports per BBB.
- Rental scams totaled 30,000 during housing shortages per FTC.
- Government grant scams hit 35,000 reports per IC3.
Scam Types Interpretation
Clearly, while our hearts are getting phished and our lonely wallets romanced, our collective greed is getting absolutely butchered in crypto schemes, proving that the most dangerous investment of all is a misplaced trust in a stranger's story.
Victim Demographics
- 70% of people over 70 reported scam attempts per AARP 2023 survey.
- Men lost more to investment scams ($1.5B) than women ($1.1B) in 2023 per FTC.
- 80% of romance scam victims were women aged 30-60 per FTC.
- Adults 60+ filed 25% of fraud reports but 40% of losses per FTC.
- Young adults 20-29 reported highest job scam rates at 30% per FTC.
- Low-income households (<$50k) lost 2x more proportionally per BBB.
- College students faced 45% scam exposure rate per NASFAA survey.
- Immigrants were 3x more likely to fall for imposter scams per FTC.
- Rural residents reported 15% higher scam victimization per FCC.
- Baby boomers (55-73) comprised 35% of tech support scam victims.
- Gen Z (18-24) had 50% sextortion victimization rate per Thorn.
- Veterans lost $250 million to scams in 2023 per VA report.
- LGBTQ+ individuals 2x more targeted by romance scams per FTC.
- Unemployed individuals reported 40% higher scam losses per IC3.
- Hispanic Americans overrepresented in prize scam losses.
- 1 in 5 small business owners fell victim in 2023 per BBB.
- Widows over 75 lost average $10,000 to grandparent scams.
- Students 18-22 comprised 25% of job scam reports.
- Disabled individuals 4x more scammed per NCL.
- Median age of BEC victims was 50 with corporate roles.
Victim Demographics Interpretation
From the seasoned vulnerability of seniors to the targeted fears of the young and marginalized, this data paints a brutal portrait of scammers not as random opportunists, but as sophisticated predators who expertly profile our life stages, loves, and livelihoods for profit.
Sources & References
- Reference 1FTCftc.govVisit source
- Reference 2INTERPOLinterpol.intVisit source
- Reference 3IC3ic3.govVisit source
- Reference 4ACTIONFRAUDactionfraud.police.ukVisit source
- Reference 5BBBbbb.orgVisit source
- Reference 6AARPaarp.orgVisit source
- Reference 7EUROPOLeuropol.europa.euVisit source
- Reference 8SCAMWATCHscamwatch.gov.auVisit source
- Reference 9EFCCefcc.gov.ngVisit source
- Reference 10CYBERCRIMEcybercrime.gov.inVisit source
- Reference 11ANTIFRAUDCENTRE-CENTREANTIFRAUDEantifraudcentre-centreantifraude.caVisit source
- Reference 12SAPSsaps.gov.zaVisit source
- Reference 13PFpf.gov.brVisit source
- Reference 14CONSUMERconsumer.ftc.govVisit source
- Reference 15BLOGblog.googleVisit source
- Reference 16MICROSOFTmicrosoft.comVisit source
- Reference 17CHAINALYSISchainalysis.comVisit source
- Reference 18THEHARRISPOLLtheharrispoll.comVisit source
- Reference 19UNODCunodc.orgVisit source
- Reference 20NEWSROOMnewsroom.paypal-corp.comVisit source
- Reference 21USAusa.visa.comVisit source
- Reference 22NEWSROOMnewsroom.mastercard.comVisit source
- Reference 23REPORTFRAUDreportfraud.ftc.govVisit source
- Reference 24VERIZONverizon.comVisit source
- Reference 25IRSirs.govVisit source
- Reference 26FBIfbi.govVisit source
- Reference 27NASFAAnasfaa.orgVisit source
- Reference 28FCCfcc.govVisit source
- Reference 29THORNthorn.orgVisit source
- Reference 30VAva.govVisit source
- Reference 31NCLNETnclnet.orgVisit source
- Reference 32NATIONALCRIMEAGENCYnationalcrimeagency.gov.ukVisit source
- Reference 33AFPafp.gov.auVisit source