Americans lost $10 billion to fraud in 2023, which is the highest this figure has ever been, according to the Federal Trade Commission.
The losses were 14% higher last year than they were in 2022.
U.S. consumers lost the most money to investment scams — over $4.6 billion — than any other type of fraud in 2023. Americans lost the second highest amount of money to impostor scams last year, which amounted to $2.7 billion in reported losses.
U.S. consumers lost more money to bank transfers and cryptocurrency than all other methods combined, the FTC said.
"Digital tools are making it easier than ever to target hard-working Americans, and we see the effects of that in the data we're releasing today,” Samuel Levine, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, said in a press release. “The FTC is working hard to take action against those scams."
The same number of people — 2.6 million Americans — reported losses in 2023 as in 2022. The most commonly reported fraud category was impostor scams. There was substantial growth in both business and government impersonators last year.
The second most common fraud category in 2023 was online shopping issues, followed by prizes, sweepstakes, and lotteries; investment-related reports; and business and job opportunity scams, the FTC said.
The FTC said it has been making a conscious effort to crack down on fraud. Among its efforts is proposing a ban on impersonator scams, with a rulemaking process targeting business and government impersonation scams currently in its final stages.
The FTC said it also helped lead the largest telemarketing fraud crackdown last year, in conjunction with 100 federal and state law enforcement partners across the country.
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