In 2024 alone, the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) received a staggering 859,532 complaints, with reported losses surging to an all-time high of $16.6 billion—a 33% increase over 2023.
Of those complaints, more than 256,000 involved actual financial losses, with an average loss of $19,372 per incident.
These were some of the findings from the IC3’s 2024 Internet Crime Report—the agency’s 25th report that tracks cyber-enabled crime across the US.
Its message is clear: online crime is more pervasive, more damaging, and more sophisticated than ever before. “The criminals Americans face today may look different than in years past, but they still want the same thing: to harm Americans for their own benefit,” the FBI noted in the report’s foreword.
Phishing and Extortion Dominate
Unsurprisingly, phishing and spoofing remained the most frequently reported internet crimes last year, with 193,407 complaints. Extortion followed with 86,415, and personal data breaches came in third at 64,882.
Other top threats included:
- Business Email Compromise (BEC) – 21,442 complaints
- Identity Theft – 21,403 complaints
- Confidence/Romance Scams – 17,910 complaints
Despite increased public awareness campaigns, bad actors continue to hone their tactics and target vulnerable populations with precision and persistence.
In fact, while cybercrime is a universal threat, the FBI reports that people over 60 submitted the most complaints and suffered the highest financial losses. This is because scammers are notorious for preying on trust, fear, and limited digital literacy among older Americans.
A Billion-Dollar Problem
Among emerging trends, call center scams proved particularly expensive. In 2024, 53,369 complaints were tied to these scams, resulting in nearly $1.9 billion in reported losses.
The FBI specifically warned of fraudsters impersonating cryptocurrency exchanges and tech support teams—often targeting older Americans and instructing victims to send cash.
A newer, more dramatic scam also surfaced: Gold Courier Scams, in which malefactors pose as law enforcement or financial institutions and dispatch couriers to collect victims’ cash or precious metals.
Although there were only 525 complaints, losses hit a jaw-dropping $219 million.
Other scams to note:
- Toll Scams (smishing related to toll road debts): 59,271 complaints, $129,624 in losses
- Emergency/“Grandparent” Scams: 357 complaints, $2.7 million in losses
Threats to Critical Infrastructure on the Rise
Cyber threats also continued to plague organizations, particularly those involved in critical infrastructure. In 2024, IC3 received over 263,000 cybercrime-related complaints, totaling $1.571 billion in losses.
Of particular concern: 4,878 complaints came from critical infrastructure organizations, which include sectors like energy, healthcare, water systems, and transportation. Ransomware and data breaches were the most commonly-reported threats.
Law Enforcement Fights Back
Despite the surge in losses, the FBI underscored major strides in disrupting cybercrime.
“We dealt a serious blow to LockBit, one of the world’s most active ransomware groups. Since 2022, we have offered up thousands of decryption keys to victims of ransomware, avoiding over $800 million in payments. Also in 2024, we worked proactively to prevent losses and minimize victim harm through private sector collaboration and initiatives like Operation Level Up.”
The report added that: “We disbanded fraud and laundering syndicates, shut down scam call centers, shuttered illicit marketplaces, dissolved nefarious “botnets,” and put hundreds of other actors behind bars. Our partnerships across the intelligence, law enforcement, and private sector communities have never been stronger.”
In the fight against increasingly cunning cybercrooks, the FBI stressed that it relies on citizens. “Without the information you report to us through IC3 or your local FBI Field Office, we simply cannot piece together the puzzle of this ever-shifting threat landscape.”
It said anyone who suspects they have been a victim of cyberenabled crime, should not hesitate to let the IC3 know. “We want to be there for you, and what you report will help us help others.”
To file a complaint or learn more, visit the Internet Crime Complaint Center.
Information Security Buzz News Editor
Kirsten Doyle has been in the technology journalism and editing space for nearly 24 years, during which time she has developed a great love for all aspects of technology, as well as words themselves. Her experience spans B2B tech, with a lot of focus on cybersecurity, cloud, enterprise, digital transformation, and data centre. Her specialties are in news, thought leadership, features, white papers, and PR writing, and she is an experienced editor for both print and online publications.
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