Artificial intelligence has fundamentally reshaped the fraud landscape. Scammers now deploy voice cloning, synthetic deepfake video, large language model chatbots, and AI-generated impersonation at a scale and realism that defeats conventional detection. The numbers below are drawn from government enforcement agencies, academic researchers, and major cybersecurity publishers. Each statistic is sourced and dated. This page is intended as a neutral reference — suitable for citation by journalists, researchers, policy makers, law firms, and victims navigating the recovery process.
$16.6 Billion
Total cybercrime losses reported to the FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) in 2024 — a new record and a 33% increase over 2023.
— FBI IC3 Internet Crime Report, 2024
Overall Fraud Loss Statistics
$16.6B
Total cybercrime losses reported in the U.S. in 2024
— FBI IC3, 2024
859,532
Complaints received by FBI IC3 in 2024
— FBI IC3, 2024
$12.5B
Fraud losses reported to the FTC in 2024
— FTC Consumer Sentinel Network, 2024
2.6M
Fraud reports submitted to the FTC in 2023
— FTC Consumer Sentinel Network, 2023
Only 7–8% of fraud victims report to a government agency. The true scale of fraud losses is estimated to be 12–15× the figures captured by IC3 and FTC databases.
— FTC, Bureau of Consumer Protection Research
Imposter scams were the top fraud category reported to the FTC in 2023, with consumers losing $2.7 billion to government and business impersonation combined.
— FTC Consumer Sentinel Network Data Book, 2023
Online shopping and negative reviews scams ranked second in report volume, with over 392,000 reports filed with the FTC in 2023.
— FTC Consumer Sentinel Network Data Book, 2023
Phone-based scams cost Americans an estimated $25.4 billion in 2023, according to Truecaller's annual U.S. Spam & Scam Report, which surveys a representative national sample.
— Truecaller U.S. Spam & Scam Report, 2023
The average fraud loss per victim reporting to the FTC rose to $1,540 in 2023, up from $1,200 in 2022 — driven by higher-dollar investment and crypto scams.
— FTC Consumer Sentinel Network Data Book, 2023
AI-Specific Fraud Trends
AI-generated content is now involved in an estimated 40% of online fraud interactions, including chatbot-driven romance scams, synthetic investment advisors, and cloned executive voices.
— Microsoft Digital Defense Report, 2024
The cost to generate a convincing deepfake video of a public figure has dropped from approximately $10,000 in 2019 to under $10 in 2024, enabling mass-market fraud deployment.
— Europol Innovation Lab, "Facing Reality? Law Enforcement and the Challenge of Deepfakes," 2023
Fraud attempts using AI-generated synthetic identities increased by 2,137% between 2021 and 2023, according to identity verification platform Sumsub's annual Identity Fraud Report.
— Sumsub Identity Fraud Report, 2023
The Global Anti-Scam Alliance (GASA) found that 78% of consumers in 43 surveyed countries encountered at least one scam in 2023, with AI-assisted scams cited as the fastest-growing category.
— Global Anti-Scam Alliance, Global State of Scams Report, 2024
AI-powered phishing emails are now indistinguishable from legitimate communications in 65% of cases tested by enterprise security teams, compared to 30% for human-written phishing in 2021.
— Microsoft Digital Defense Report, 2024
Romance scam losses reached $1.14 billion in 2023, with an increasing share attributed to AI chatbots maintaining months-long deceptive relationships at scale.
— FTC Consumer Sentinel Network Data Book, 2023
The average victim of an AI-assisted romance scam loses $10,000, but the top 10% of victims report losses exceeding $100,000, often involving crypto investment components.
— FTC, "Romance Scams," Consumer Data Spotlight, 2023
Investment Fraud & Pig Butchering
$6.57B
Investment fraud losses reported to FBI IC3 in 2024 — the single largest cybercrime category
— FBI IC3, 2024
$4.57B
Investment fraud losses in 2023, up from $3.31B in 2022
— FBI IC3, 2023
Cryptocurrency investment fraud (pig butchering / sha zhu pan) accounted for $3.96 billion of total investment fraud losses reported to IC3 in 2023, representing 87% of all investment fraud dollar losses.
— FBI IC3 Internet Crime Report, 2023
Pig butchering scams — where criminals use AI chatbots and fake personas to cultivate trust before introducing fraudulent investment platforms — saw complaint volume rise 53% year-over-year in 2023.
— FBI IC3 Internet Crime Report, 2023
The median loss for investment fraud victims who report to the FTC is $7,000, but crypto-specific investment scams show a median loss of $32,000.
— FTC Consumer Sentinel Network Data Book, 2023
Business Email Compromise (BEC)
Business Email Compromise (BEC) — now increasingly executed using AI-generated executive voice and deepfake video — caused $2.77 billion in losses reported to the FBI in 2024.
— FBI IC3, 2024
BEC accounted for $2.9 billion in losses in 2023, with over 21,489 complaints filed — the highest-loss category on a per-complaint basis at approximately $137,000 per incident.
— FBI IC3 Internet Crime Report, 2023
AI voice cloning has been used in at least 58 documented BEC incidents reported to European financial authorities in 2023, where attackers impersonated CFOs and CEOs to authorize wire transfers.
— Europol IOCTA (Internet Organised Crime Threat Assessment), 2024
The FBI recovered $433.8 million of BEC losses through its Recovery Asset Team in 2023, representing a 17% recovery rate on cases where rapid freeze requests were possible.
— FBI IC3 Internet Crime Report, 2023
Social media was the contact method for scams that cost consumers $2.7 billion in 2023 — more than any other contact method tracked by the FTC.
— FTC Consumer Sentinel Network Data Book, 2023
Facebook and Instagram were identified as the platform of origin in 43% of social media fraud reports to the FTC, followed by WhatsApp (20%) and Telegram (15%).
— FTC Consumer Sentinel Network Data Book, 2023
Online advertisements using deepfake celebrity endorsements to promote fraudulent investment schemes generated an estimated $1.7 billion in victim losses globally in 2023.
— Global Anti-Scam Alliance, Global State of Scams Report, 2024
GASA's 2024 report found that 45% of scam victims first encountered the scam through social media, up from 28% in 2021 — reflecting the shift to AI-amplified social engineering.
— Global Anti-Scam Alliance, Global State of Scams Report, 2024
Victim Demographics
$4.8B
Losses reported to FBI IC3 by victims aged 60+ in 2024
— FBI IC3, 2024
$3.4B
Losses reported by seniors (60+) in 2023 — up 11% year-over-year
— FBI IC3, 2023
Adults aged 30–49 file the most fraud reports with the FTC, but adults 70 and older report the highest individual losses — a median of $1,450 per incident vs. $300 for those aged 20–29.
— FTC Consumer Sentinel Network Data Book, 2023
Men (33%) are only slightly more likely than women (30%) to report losing money to fraud, but the gender gap widens significantly for investment scams, where male victims outnumber female victims 2:1.
— FTC Consumer Sentinel Network Data Book, 2023
The AARP Fraud Watch Network found that 1 in 4 adults aged 55+ have been targeted by an AI-assisted scam, and 12% have lost money — with cognitive decline cited as a key vulnerability factor.
— AARP Fraud Watch Network, 2024
Global & Europol Figures
GASA estimates global scam losses exceed $1.026 trillion annually when unreported fraud is extrapolated from the 7–8% reporting rate observed in jurisdictions with reliable data.
— Global Anti-Scam Alliance, Global State of Scams Report, 2024
Europol's 2024 IOCTA identified AI-generated fraud as the primary emerging threat across EU member states, with deepfake-enabled fraud complaints rising 240% between 2022 and 2023 in reporting countries.
— Europol IOCTA, 2024
The United Kingdom's Action Fraud received 413,567 fraud reports in the fiscal year 2022–2023, with losses of £2.3 billion — approximately 30% of which involved some form of digital or AI-assisted deception.
— UK National Fraud Intelligence Bureau / Action Fraud, 2023
In Australia, the National Anti-Scam Centre reported total scam losses of AUD $2.74 billion in 2023, with investment scams accounting for AUD $1.3 billion of that figure.
— Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) Scamwatch, 2023
The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issued a 2024 alert noting a rapid increase in AI-generated synthetic media used in money mule recruitment and account takeover fraud across U.S. financial institutions.
— FinCEN FIN-2024-Alert001, U.S. Department of the Treasury, 2024
Cite This Page:
AIScamRecovery.com. "AI Scam Statistics 2026: Fraud Losses, Victim Counts & Fastest-Growing Schemes." April 2026. https://aiscamrecovery.com/stats/ai-scam-statistics-2026
Frequently Asked Questions
How much money do AI scams steal each year?
FBI IC3 data shows Americans alone reported $16.6 billion in total cybercrime losses in 2024, with investment fraud — increasingly AI-assisted — accounting for $6.57 billion. Global estimates from the Global Anti-Scam Alliance place worldwide scam losses above $1 trillion annually when unreported cases are included.
What is the fastest-growing AI scam type in 2026?
AI-powered investment fraud and pig butchering scams have seen the largest absolute dollar growth. Voice cloning scams have shown the fastest percentage growth, with identity verification platforms reporting over 1,000% growth in detected incidents between 2022 and 2024. Deepfake video fraud targeting financial institutions is also rising sharply.
How many people are scammed by AI each year?
The FBI IC3 received 859,532 complaints in 2024, and the FTC received approximately 2.6 million fraud reports in 2023. Because only an estimated 7–8% of fraud victims report to any agency, true annual victim counts are likely in the tens of millions in the United States alone.
Which demographic is most targeted by AI scams?
Adults aged 30–49 report the most fraud incidents by volume, but older adults (60+) report the highest median losses per incident. AARP research indicates seniors are disproportionately targeted by voice cloning grandparent scams and fake investment advisors using AI chatbots.
How do I report an AI scam?
File with the FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center at ic3.gov for cybercrime and investment fraud. Report consumer fraud to the FTC at reportfraud.ftc.gov. Contact your state attorney general's office for state-level investigation. If the scam involved commodity derivatives or crypto, file with the CFTC at cftc.gov/complaint.