The Federal Trade Commission released new data showing Americans reported losing $3.5 billion to imposter scams in 2025 — a record and nearly three times the losses reported in 2020. Imposter scams were the single most-reported fraud category last year, accounting for nearly one in three fraud reports filed with the agency. Total fraud losses across all categories hit $16 billion in 2025, up 25% from 2024.
The most costly type was bank impersonation: criminals call or text pretending to be your bank’s fraud department, create a sense of urgency, and then convince you to move money to a “safe account” — which they control. Government impersonators (fake IRS, Social Security, or Medicare callers) cost victims $920 million. Social media was the biggest hunting ground, accounting for more than $2.1 billion in losses — an eightfold increase since 2020 — because it lets scammers target millions of people at low cost with fake ads and AI-generated profiles.