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Recent Trends

• Fraud losses surged by 25% in 2024: According to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), consumers lost more than $12.5 billion to fraud in 2024, which is up from the previous year. While the total number of fraud reports remained steady, a larger percentage of victims reported losing money—a jump from 27% in 2023 to 38% in 2024.
• Types of scams evolving: Investment scams, imposter scams, and job scams are all on the rise, with job scam losses alone increasing from $90 million in 2020 to over $500 million in 2024. Synthetic identity fraud and identity theft are also worsening.

Demographic & Targeting Changes

• Small businesses and seniors especially hit: Financial fraud against small businesses has climbed by 70% since the start of the pandemic. Elder fraud is also increasing, with reported losses from those over 60 years old up sharply and scammers frequently using technology like AI-generated voices to impersonate trusted sources.
• Young adults and job seekers at risk: The highest number of fraud incidents were reported by young adults, often due to job scams that harvest sensitive information for identity theft.

Technological Drivers

• AI makes fraud more convincing: Scammers now use artificial intelligence for deepfake voices, emails, and realistic job postings, making scams much harder to detect. Fraudsters increasingly exploit digital channels, with most fraud now occurring online or via mobile banking.
• Real-time payment fraud is up: The rise of instant payment platforms has made fraud detection more difficult, and criminals use deepfakes and malware to manipulate transactions in real time.

Conclusion

Fraud is not only increasing in terms of aggregate losses, but is becoming more targeted, technologically advanced, and impactful across all segments of the population and economy.

The fastest-growing scam types in 2024 and 2025 include job scams, AI-driven fraud, cryptocurrency and investment scams, fake parcel delivery messages, social media marketplace scams, and identity fraud through deepfakes and “fraud-as-a-service”.

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