Scams in the US Surge to Record High, Leaving Victims Reeling

Simon's life was turned upside down when his wife of 43 years passed away. In his grief, he sought companionship online and met Emily, who turned out to be a scammer. Over the next few months, she stole $800,000 from him.

But that wasn't the end of it for Simon. He was still stuck paying back $185,000 he had borrowed and tens of thousands of dollars in additional taxes on money he had withdrawn and lost. When he tried to report the crime to his local police and the FBI, nothing came of it.

Instead, he was contacted by another scammer who offered to connect him with the Secret Service to recoup his losses for a fee. Simon's experience is not unique; virtually every American has been targeted by scammers in some way.

A record $15.9 billion in losses were reported last year to the Federal Trade Commission, a 25% increase from 2024. And these estimates are likely a massive undercount because many scam victims are too embarrassed to report their crimes.

The ballooning costs are fueled by advances in artificial intelligence and cryptocurrency. AI allows scammers to work at an unprecedented scale and level of sophistication, while cryptocurrency is a digital cash that can be hard to trace to its real owners.