Americans Lost $10.3 Billion to Scams Last Year — Here's Who They Targeted Most

The Federal Trade Commission released its annual Consumer Sentinel report for 2025, and the numbers should concern every American family — especially those with older relatives.

Who loses the most money

While younger adults (20s and 30s) report fraud more often, adults over 60 lose significantly more money per incident. The median loss for adults 70–79 was $1,450 per incident — more than double the $650 median for adults in their 30s.

This gap exists because older adults are more likely to be targeted by high-value scams like imposter fraud, investment scams, and grandparent scams — and less likely to report losses under $100.

The top scam categories by money lost

• Investment scams: $5.7 billion — the largest category, driven by cryptocurrency fraud
• Imposter scams: $2.7 billion — fake government officials, tech support, family members
• Online shopping fraud: $400 million — fake websites and undelivered merchandise
• Prize and lottery scams: $280 million
• Business and job opportunity scams: $230 million

How scammers contact victims

Phone calls remain the most common contact method reported — but email and text messages are growing fastest. Text scams saw a 25% increase in reported losses year over year.

Most losses go unreported

The FTC estimates that only about 4% of scam victims report their losses. The actual total financial damage from scams is likely many times higher than the reported $10.3 billion — possibly exceeding $100 billion when unreported incidents are accounted for.

Written by Garland A. Hurt, Founder & Information Security Officer, ProtectMyCircle. Data sourced from the FTC Consumer Sentinel Network Data Book 2025.