FBI report

For the First Time Ever, the FBI Got Over a Million Cybercrime Complaints in a Year. Losses Hit $20.9 Billion

The bureau's new annual report shows online fraud growing faster than ever, with crypto and AI at the center of it.

By Marc Colomé Serra, Editor. Published October 8, 2026. Every figure is linked to its source below.

In its 25 years of existence, the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) had never crossed the one-million mark. In 2025 it did: 1,008,597 complaints, according to the bureau's annual Internet Crime Report.

The losses those victims reported reached about $20.9 billion, a 26% increase over 2024.

Crypto is the getaway car

Crypto-related complaints rose to 181,565, and the average reported loss in those cases was roughly $62,600. The single biggest source of damage was crypto investment fraud: $7.2 billion across 61,559 complaints. These schemes typically use fake trading platforms that show impressive, invented profits until the victim tries to withdraw.

AI enters the report

For the first time, the report included a dedicated section on complaints involving AI. They include cloned voices used in fake "family emergency" calls and deepfakes used to promote investment schemes.

Online fraud dominates

Cyber-enabled fraud — scams carried out online, by text or by phone — made up nearly 85% of all reported losses. The report notes that many of the large investment operations are run by organized groups, often linked to scam networks in Southeast Asia.

Some money does come back

The FBI's Recovery Asset Team acted on about $1.16 billion in attempted theft in 2025 and froze $679 million of it. Speed is everything: the sooner a victim reports, the better the chance of stopping a transfer.