Cybercriminals and online scammers stole a record $16.6 billion last year, the FBI said Wednesday.
Figures in the FBI’s Annual Internet Crime Complaints Center (IC3) report are rising sharply from the $12.5 billion reported in 2023, reflecting an increase in the prevalence of online fraud, including fraud targeting cryptocurrencies and older Americans, particularly those targeting cryptocurrencies.
The report is a major view of how the US is being destroyed by cybercrime, but that number is scarce as it only reflects people who spend time filing reports to agencies. The agency received a total of 859,532 complaints last year, including fraud and cybercrime.
“It’s difficult to tell the numbers a complete narrative of what’s happening across the cybercrime ecosystem,” Assistant Assistant Director Cynthia Kaiser said at a press conference previewing the report.
According to the FBI and FTC, it is usually a scam to steal money and personal information to those with unpaid tolls.
“Since 2020, we’ve seen all virtualization in our lives increase the attack surface and shift criminals into the physical world,” she said.
The report said more than 15 million people reported actual financial losses from fraud and cybercrime.
The fake toll fraud frequently received text messages telling people to pay small fees, prompting a complaint of $58,271 and $129,624 with reported losses. As NBC News reported in March, at least some of these scams are tied to the Chinese cybercrime syndicate advertised on Telegram.
The biggest victims of fraud were people over the age of 60, reporting that over $4.8 billion has been lost. It was also most likely that older victims were saying that cryptocurrency was involved in a scam targeting them. Among that age group, complaints about cryptocurrency accounted for $2.8 billion.
People over the age of 60 have lost the most money ($1.8 billion) in investment scams, a category the FBI uses to include so-called “pig slaughter” scams.
Pig slaughter fraud often starts with harmless or confusing text messages from strangers. This is used as an opening for cybercriminals to ultimately build relationships with victims by pretending to be friends or romantic partners. They slowly persuaded them to invest more and more money in fake cryptocurrency ventures, leading to a tragic story in which some retirees lose their entire savings.
The reported funds reportedly lost to reported investment scams have been rising rapidly in recent years, increasing from $3.3 billion in 2022 to $4.6 billion in 2023 to $6.6 billion last year, the report said.
This story first appeared on nbcnews.com. More from NBC News:
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