According to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3), cybercriminals stole a record $16.6 billion in 2024 — a 33% increase from the previous year. The IC3 received 859,532 complaints, with 256,256 resulting in financial losses, averaging $19,372 per incident. The most affected demographic was older Americans (60+), with 147,127 complaints and $4.8 billion in losses.

Fraud remained the primary category of cybercrime, while ransomware continued to pose a major threat to critical infrastructure, with a 9% increase in complaints over 2023. Since its inception, IC3 has processed over 9 million complaints, and currently averages over 2,000 daily.

However, the FBI emphasized that the reported figures only reflect known or voluntarily reported cases and significantly underestimate true global cybercrime losses. Specifically, ransomware estimates exclude lost productivity, downtime, recovery costs, and third-party remediation expenses.

The report also warned of a new scam trend: fraudsters impersonating IC3 personnel, offering fake assistance to victims of previous scams, thereby revictimizing already affected individuals.

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