Cyber-enabled fraud has surged to an all-time high in the United States, with the FBI reporting a record-breaking $16.6 billion in losses in 2024. A growing wave of phishing attacks, ransomware incidents, and cryptocurrency scams has targeted Americans—especially the elderly—underscoring the urgent need for stronger national cybersecurity defenses.
An Alarming Spike: Cyber Fraud Soars 33% in a Year
The United States witnessed an unprecedented rise in cybercrime in 2024, with financial losses jumping by 33% from the previous year, the FBI revealed in its annual Internet Crime Report released on April 23. According to the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3), which aggregates data from victims who voluntarily report internet crimes, total losses crossed ₹1.38 lakh crore, up from approximately₹1.04 lakh crore in 2023.
The surge in financial damage was driven predominantly by cyber-enabled fraud—crimes in which scammers exploit digital channels to steal money, identities, or data, or to sell counterfeit goods and services. The IC3 received 859,532 complaints from victims across all 50 states, indicating both an increase in volume and sophistication of cyberattacks.
Cynthia Kaiser, Deputy Assistant Director of the FBI’s Cyber Division said that this is likely an undercount, these are only the cases that were reported to us.
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The demographics most affected were Americans aged 60 and above, who reported ₹0.40 lakh crore in losses across 147,000 complaints—a 40% increase from the prior year. Many of these scams involved impersonation, investment fraud, and emotional manipulation.
Ransomware: America’s Achilles’ Heel
The report underscored ransomware as the most pervasive threat to U.S. critical infrastructure, despite numerous international law enforcement efforts to curtail such operations. Ransomware attacks—where criminals encrypt a victim’s data and demand payment for its release—rose 9% year-over-year, and frequently targeted sectors essential to national functioning.
These sectors include:
- Critical Manufacturing
- Healthcare and Public Health
- Financial Services
- Information Technology
- Government Facilities
The FBI cited five dominant ransomware strains: Akira, LockBit, RansomHub, FOG, and PLAY. In response, the Bureau intensified its counter-ransomware initiatives, notably disrupting LockBit operations and distributing thousands of decryption keys, preventing an estimated₹6,640 crore in ransom payments.
Chad Yarbrough, Operations Director for the FBI’s Criminal and Cyber Divisions has warned that cyber actors are no longer just after money they’re increasingly capable of crippling essential systems
Cryptocurrency Scams, Phishing, and Call Centers Dominate Fraud Landscape
The FBI report showed that cryptocurrency-related fraud has become a central pillar of the cybercrime economy. Losses in this category alone totaled ₹77,190 crore in 2024, representing a 66% increase from 2023. These schemes spanned investment fraud, romance scams, crypto ATM fraud, and “pig butchering” schemes.
Other high-loss scams included:
- Call Center Scams: ₹15,770 crore in losses (53,369 complaints)
- Gold Courier Fraud: ₹1,817.7 crore (525 complaints)
- Emergency Impersonation Scams: ₹22.41 crore(357 complaints)
- Toll Scams:₹1.08 crore (59,271 complaints)
Phishing and spoofing were the most commonly reported cybercrimes, followed by extortion and personal data breaches. The three states with the highest number of complaints were California, Texas, and Florida.
The IC3 emphasized that the figures are more than statistics—they are stories of ruined finances, emotional trauma, and violated privacy.
Christopher Delzotto, Chief of the FBI’s Financial Crime Section has exclaimed that many victims don’t even realize they’re being targeted until it’s too late.
The agency continues to urge the public to report suspicious activity and to remain updated on the latest fraud trends via alerts issued by the IC3.