Scam Loss Statistics: US, UK, Canada and Australia (2026)

What the main national bodies report about money lost to scams in 2025: totals, the costliest scam types, which platforms they start on and how much goes unreported.

By Siddharth ShankarUpdated October 12, 202672 statistics · 13 sourcesCite this page

Key takeaways

• US reported losses were $15.9 billion to the FTC in 2025, about 27% above the $12.5 billion of 2024 (our calculation), on about 3 million fraud reports (FTC).
• The FBI’s separate count is higher: $20.877 billion from 1,008,597 complaints, with investment fraud alone at $8.65 billion (IC3).
• Investment scams are the largest named loss category in each source, at about 38% to about 50% of reported losses (our calculation, with caveats on page).
• Scams that start on social media cost US consumers $2.1 billion in 2025, about eight times the 2020 figure (FTC).
• The true totals are higher than reported. Canada’s Competition Bureau says only 5% to 10% of frauds are reported (Competition Bureau).

United States

Two federal systems publish loss figures: the FTC’s Consumer Sentinel reports and the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) complaints. They use different definitions and categories, so we show them side by side without combining them.

The IC3 reports give totals of more than $12.5 billion (2023) and $16.6 billion (2024). Our +26% uses the rounded 2024 total.

Where US scams start: social media

The FTC’s April 2026 spotlight on social media shows both the scale and who is exposed. Nearly 30% of people who reported losing money said the scam started on social media. Facebook had the most reported losses, followed by WhatsApp and then Instagram.

United Kingdom

UK Finance reports fraud that passes through banks and payment firms. Its two main groups are unauthorised fraud, where the account holder did not approve the payment, and authorised push payment (APP) fraud, where the victim was tricked into sending money.

UK Finance says the origination split uses a subset of closed APP cases with the source as reported by victims, and that the figures “cannot be considered definitive”. The 88% reimbursement rate refers to in-scope losses under the Payment Systems Regulator’s mandatory rules; the £354.3 million is a different measure from UK Finance data.

Canada

The Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre (CAFC) collects reports from victims and partners. The CAFC release shows a $ sign without naming a currency. Because it is a Canadian agency reporting on Canadian victims, we label amounts C$; see the methodology.

Australia

Investment scams across countries

Investment fraud leads the tables everywhere, though each country defines and counts it differently. The chart divides each country’s reported investment losses by its own reported total. It shows the pattern within each country, not a ranking between countries, because the totals cover different populations of reports and the UK figure is a share of APP fraud only.

For how these scams work and how to avoid them, see how scammers get your phone number and email. Our incident reports cover specific cases, for example the ACCC 2025 report and the HSBC Australia penalty.

Methodology and limitations

Every figure on this page comes from the organization that published it, such as a regulator, a government agency or the original report. We read the source page or document directly, and we record the period each figure covers. When a number could not be confirmed against a primary source, we left it out. Rows marked “Our calculation” are simple arithmetic on published figures, and the inputs are named in the same row.

• Loss figures are what victims and institutions reported. The Competition Bureau says only 5% to 10% of frauds are reported in Canada, and the true totals are higher.
• The FBI and FTC figures use different definitions and categories, so they must not be added together.
• UK Finance covers fraud through its members’ payment systems; Cifas counts cases filed by its members. Neither is a count of all UK fraud.
• The ACCC’s national totals and its Scamwatch-only figures are different measures; the 26.5% figure for people aged 65+ refers to Scamwatch losses.
• The FTC 2025 total comes from a March 2026 testimony release that rounds to about 3 million reports and $15.9 billion. We did not use a 2025 Data Book because we could not retrieve one.

Counts of reports, complaints and notifications measure what was reported or notified, not everything that happened. Currency symbols follow the source. Where an agency does not name its currency, we show the symbol the source uses (for example, C$ for Canada and A$ for Australia are our labels). Figures from different countries use different definitions and should not be added together. Spot an error? Tell us and include the source link; we correct verified errors and note the date at the top of the page.