Americans Estimated to Lose $119 Billion Annually to Online Scams

WASHINGTON, D.C. - A new report from the Consumer Federation of America (CFA) projects that Americans are losing an estimated $119 billion every year to online scams . This "true" cost of scams is over seven times higher than what was reported to the FBI in 2024, and comes as Americans reported losing $16.6 billion to online scams, a 33 percent increase from the previous year. The total $119 billion figure adjusts the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) data from 2024 to estimate a more comprehensive cost to individuals each year.

The report also identifies Meta's platforms - Facebook at 57%, Instagram at 22%, and WhatsApp at 8% - as the top three online platforms associated with scams, according to the Better Business Bureau. The Global Anti-Scam Alliance has also found that 81 percent of all scam attempts in the US occurred on platforms with a direct message function.

Read the full report here.

Watch the press briefing of the report here.

The report finds that consumers in four states - California, Texas, Florida and New York - suffered the greatest projected losses, which accounts for over one third of nationwide scam damages. Estimated annual losses in top states include:

• California: $18.1 billion in annual losses , more than twice as much as any other state in part because of its population, concentration of wealth, large immigrant communities and sizable elderly population.
• Texas: $9.7 billion in annual losses , owing to the state's rapid population growth, business sector, large elderly population, and rural communities without access to support services.
• Florida: $7.7 billion in annual losses , as a result of the state's high concentration of elderly and retiree population who are targeted with complex, highly-specific scams.
• New York: $6.5 billion in annual losses , owing to scams that target New York City's status as the financial center of the country and diverse immigrant communities within the state.

The report highlights that social media platforms, specifically Meta-owned Facebook and Instagram, are the platforms most commonly associated with online scams, drawing on investigative reporting to illustrate how these companies profit heavily from the presence of scam content on their platforms:

• Reuters reported that internal Meta documents projected roughly 10 percent of its 2024 revenue - about $16 billion - would come from ads promoting scams and banned goods. The investigation also reported that Meta directed its own staff not to take action that would threaten more than 0.15 percent of the company's revenue.
• According to The New York Times , Meta allowed scammers to run over 150,000 political advertising scams involving deepfakes and misleading paid content, which earned the company over $49 million over a seven year period.
• The Wall Street Journa l reported that Meta, which the article called, "a cornerstone of the internet fraud economy," allows suspicious advertisers to accrue up to 32 automated 'strikes' for financial fraud before it bans their accounts.

"The devastating scale of losses represents a crisis that demands swift and unflinching attention, as people increasingly feel unsafe online," said CFA Director of AI and Privacy Ben Winters. "These statistics show that action across the economy - increasing platform liability, shutting down data brokers, improving reporting mechanisms, regulating generative AI, and beefing up consumer protection enforcement resources - are not only exciting ideas but mandates for a safe future."

"Social media has become a prime hunting ground for scammers to swindle Americans out of nearly $119 billion a year. This report makes it clear that accountability is long overdue," said U.S. Senator Ruben Gallego . "If companies are making money by pushing ads onto users' feeds, they have a responsibility to make sure those ads aren't fraudulent. My SCAM Act would hold Big Tech accountable for stopping scam ads on their platforms and help protect consumers' hard-earned money."

"Financial scams are widespread, destructive, and unfortunately becoming more and more common due to advancements in AI. In order to protect online consumers from these devastating crimes, I introduced the SCAM Act," said U.S. Representative Lou Correa . "The Consumer Federation of America's new report does an excellent job highlighting the dangers of scams, which are becoming increasingly sophisticated and often target vulnerable populations. This report shows the enormity of the crisis and stresses the urgency for Congress to implement more safeguard Americans."

"Far too many New Yorkers are being targeted by sophisticated, technology-driven fraud schemes. These crimes steal both money and peace of mind, and that is why my office has made protecting people from scams a top priority. We will always fight to ensure any individual or company who preys on hardworking families is held accountable. I look forward to continuing to work with our partners to stop this illegal behavior and keep New Yorkers safe," said New York Attorney General Letitia James .

"This report makes clear: online fraud has reached crisis levels, and Big Tech is profiting off it. Meanwhile, all of us pay the price," said State Senator Andrew Gounardes . "My SAFE Platforms Act holds tech companies accountable by preventing platforms from recommending fraudulent content, protecting user data, and ensuring companies to actually enforce their own anti-fraud policies. This is how we crack down on scams and protect users from being ripped off."

The Consumer Federation of America's analysis of the true cost of scams relies on underreporting patterns documented by the Bureau of Justice Statistics and other researchers, which found just 14 percent of financial fraud victims reported the incident to authorities. The total $119 billion figure adjusts the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) data from 2024 to estimate a more comprehensive cost to individuals each year.

At the same time, the $119 billion estimate accounts only for direct losses to individuals. Business losses and secondary losses associated with scams - legal fees, lost productivity, and other indirect costs, as well as impacts on international victims - are not fully captured in this figure, meaning the total U.S. economic impact is likely even higher.

Other major findings from the report include:

Social Media Platforms Failing To Stop Online Scams

The report cites data from the Global Anti-Scam Alliance (GASA) 2025 report and the Better Business Bureau , which show that most scams reported by Americans originated on social media, and that the majority of users surveyed (57%) observed no discernible action taken by platforms in response to complaints.

The report recommends that platforms do more to create safer design features that limit fraud, including by providing stronger default privacy settings, enhancing identity protection tools to detect and prevent fraudulent profiles, and establish stronger fraud reporting systems for users.

Criminals are targeting Americans with a wide variety of different scams:

The most frequent types of scam that Americans lost money to are investment scams (estimated $46.6B), followed by email targeting scams ($19.7B), tech support scams ($10.4B), nonpayment and delivery scams ($5.6B), romance scams ($4.7B) and government impersonation scams ($2.9B).

Smaller states disproportionately suffering from scams

While larger states lead the nation in total annual losses, residents from some of the smallest states are estimated to bear a much heavier burden relative to their population: in 2024, Nevada ($588 per resident), Wyoming ($530), and the District of Columbia ($2,965) experienced the highest per-capita scam and cybercrime losses.

Other states outside of the top ten in total losses saw considerable losses owing to their unique economies: Michigan experienced an estimated true loss in scams of over $1.7 billion every year, as the state's disproportionately large manufacturing and auto industries present pension and employment scam vulnerabilities. South Carolina and Nebraska's economies were uniquely hurt by scammers targeting their tourism and agricultural industries, respectively. Estimated losses in other states like Pennsylvania ($2.9B) and Wisconsin (estimated $1.2B) were also considerable.

The report comes as online scams continue to cost more Americans money every year. In 2024 alone, Americans reported losing $16.6 billion to online scams, a 33 percent increase from the previous year, underscoring the rapidly growing threat of digital fraud. Americans are increasingly seeing scams as a major threat, too: according to a recent Data for Progress poll of New Yorkers, one third of those surveyed said they were personally impacted by an online scam or fraud while nearly 90 percent said online scams and fraud are a very big or moderately big problem.

"Behind these staggering numbers are real people whose savings and retirement security are being stolen. Older Americans are the most frequently targeted by scams, losing peace of mind and money they cannot replace," said Richard Fiesta, Executive Director of the Alliance for Retired Americans . "This report shows that the true cost of fraud in America is far greater than what official statistics show. Without strong action, this cost will keep rising with new technologies. Policymakers, regulators, and corporations whose platforms spread scam ads and messages must act with urgency to protect older adults and hold bad actors accountable."

"It's clear that online scams are a huge problem on social media," said Anya Schiffrin, Co-Director of the Technology Policy, Innovation Concentration at Columbia University's School of International Public Affairs . "Scam ads on Meta, in particular, play a huge role in luring and defrauding victims. Because shame or embarrassment often deters victims from reporting scams, we have never had a full picture of what scam losses may look like. "The Scam Economy" report fills this critical gap and makes an important contribution to quantifying the true cost of online scams and crime."