FBI Internet Crime Report 2025 (IC3 Report): Losses Grew 14x in a Decade, and the Average Complaint Now Costs Four Times More

The FBI’s IC3 report for 2025, the Internet Crime Report released in April 2026, counts 1,008,597 complaints and $20.877 billion in reported losses, up 26% on 2024. Across ten annual reports, losses grew about 14 times while complaints grew 3.4 times, so the average complaint now carries $20,699 in losses, 4 times the 2016 level.

We downloaded every IC3 annual report from 2016 to 2025 as PDF from ic3.gov, parsed the crime type, state and age tables with code, and checked the parsed values against the totals and charts printed elsewhere in the same reports. Then we added Census Bureau population estimates to rank every state per resident, and lined the ten years up so the category renames do not break the trend.

Ten years of IC3 data: complaints more than tripled, losses rose 14 times

Each line is indexed to 2016 = 1x. Hover a point for the published value. Losses are IC3’s published annual totals (rounded to $0.1 billion except 2025); loss per complaint for 2024 and 2025 is IC3’s own average, earlier years are losses divided by complaints.

Complaints grew from 298,728 in 2016 to 1,008,597 in 2025. The jump was not steady: complaints went from 467,361 in 2019 to 791,790 in 2020, then stayed between 800,944 and 880,418 until 2025. Losses rose every year after 2017, so the money per complaint is what changed most: $5,304 in 2020, $12,860 in 2022 and $20,699 in 2025. The growth is concentrated in a few fraud types: investment fraud, BEC and tech support scams together account for $13.8 billion in 2025, 66% of all reported losses, while phishing, the most reported crime, accounts for 1%.

Complaints and losses as published by IC3 (2016 to 2019 from the 2019 report’s five-year panel, 2020 and 2021 from the 2021 report, later years from each year’s own report). The 2016 report itself put 2016 losses at $1.33 billion; IC3’s later five-year panels show $1.5 billion. Crypto-related losses use the descriptor IC3 called Virtual Currency until 2021 and Cryptocurrency since; a descriptor can be added to any crime type. Age is optional on the complaint form, so 60+ figures cover only complaints that gave an age. 60+ losses for 2024 and 2025 are exact; the other age bands for those years were published rounded.

Crime types ranked: investment fraud, BEC and tech support scams take most of the money

Reported losses by IC3 crime type, 2025, top 15. Red bars are the scams that most often hit small businesses through their staff: business email compromise (BEC), tech support and government impersonation. Growth since 2020 is shown only where the category kept the same definition.

Investment fraud losses went from $336 million in 2020 to $8.65 billion in 2025, 26 times higher, and IC3 says cryptocurrency investment fraud alone was $7.228 billion of that. Tech support scams grew from $146 million to $2.13 billion (14.6x), and government impersonation from $110 million to $798 million (7.3x). BEC is the steadiest large category: $361 million in 2016, $1.87 billion in 2020 and $3.05 billion in 2025. Losses on complaints that mention cryptocurrency, in any crime type, reached $11.37 billion in 2025, 54% of all reported losses, compared with $28.3 million in 2016.

The most reported crime is not where the money is. Phishing and spoofing produced 191,561 complaints in 2025 but $216 million in losses. Comparing like with like (IC3 merged Spoofing into Phishing/Spoofing from the 2023 report and restated 2021 as 342,494), phishing complaints are down 44% from 2021. Our phishing statistics report sets that drop against other measures of phishing activity, which did not fall.

Fastest-growing losses, 2020 to 2025

Among the 17 categories whose definition did not change between the 2020 and 2025 reports, the five with the fastest loss growth were investment (25.7x), tech/customer support (14.6x), government impersonation (7.3x), personal data breach (6.8x), employment (5.8x). Two fell: identity theft (0.8x), overpayment (0.4x).

Each year’s figure comes from that year’s own report (2016 to 2019 from the two-column crime type tables, 2020 to 2025 from the first column of each report’s three-year comparison). One complaint can carry more than one crime type, so columns do not add to the annual totals. IC3 also renamed or split categories: Harassment/Threats of Violence became Terrorism/Threats of Violence in 2021 and then Harassment/Stalking plus Threats of Violence in 2022, and No Lead Value, Misrepresentation and Civil Matter were dropped.

Internet crime by state, per resident

Raw counts mostly track population: California (116,414 complaints), Texas (97,912) and Florida (71,843) lead every year. Per 100,000 residents the ranking changes. The District of Columbia (449), Alaska (434) and Nevada (407) lead, against 268 for the 50 states and DC combined. For dollars per resident, DC ($140), California ($93) and Nevada ($92) lead, while Louisiana ($23) and Kentucky ($26) are lowest; the 50-state-plus-DC figure is $55.

Shading splits states into fifths. Our rates use Census Bureau Vintage 2025 population estimates and match the per-100K tables IC3 printed for the first time in the 2025 report to within 0.05. Puerto Rico is included at the lower right.

IC3 does not publish per capita figures for earlier years, so we computed them. Complaints per 100,000 residents rose from 80 in 2016 to 268 in 2025 nationally, 3.3 times. South Dakota grew fastest (44 to 269, 6.2x), followed by Oklahoma (4.6x), Massachusetts (4.5x), Wisconsin (4.4x). Maryland, the 6th highest state for raw complaints in 2016, grew least (2.2x). One caution: IC3’s 2024 table listed 6,770 complaints for Alaska, more than double its 2023 and 2025 counts, so single-year per capita ranks for small states can swing on a few thousand filings.

State is where the complainant lives, as reported. IC3 counts only complaints that included a state, so the state tables add up to 91% of 2025 complaints. Territories other than Puerto Rico are left out because their per capita figures rest on very small counts. For FTC identity theft reports by state, see our identity theft statistics.

People over 60 now report more than a third of the losses

Losses reported by complainants aged 60 and over as a share of all losses reported to IC3 that year.

From 2016 to 2021, the 60+ share of all reported losses held between 22.6% and 24.5%. It then climbed to 30% in 2022 and 37% in 2025, when 201,266 older complainants reported $7.748 billion. The average 60+ loss was $38,496 in 2025, against $6,167 in 2016. The largest 60+ categories in 2025: people 60+ reported $3.52 billion in investment fraud losses, $1.04 billion in tech support losses (49% of all tech support losses) and $4.35 billion in crypto-related losses. The FTC’s Consumer Sentinel shows the same age pattern in a different reporting system; our scam statistics break it down by contact and payment method.

Ransomware and critical infrastructure

IC3 logged 3,611 ransomware complaints in 2025, up from 3,156 in 2024 but below the 3,729 of 2021. Reported ransomware losses were $32.3 million, and the FBI notes that this figure normally leaves out lost business, time, wages, files, equipment and remediation costs. Complaints from organizations in the 16 critical infrastructure sectors rose faster: 649 in 2021, 870 in 2022, 1,193 in 2023, 1,403 in 2024 and 2,118 in 2025, a 51% rise in the last year. Healthcare and public health nearly doubled, from 238 to 460. IC3 also received more than 1,400 ransomware complaints from organizations outside those sectors, led by legal services (18%) and contracting services (17%). Leak-site data, which does not depend on victims filing, is in our ransomware statistics.

Left: ransomware complaints by sector as charted in the 2024 and 2025 reports (sector names are printed only in the chart image; the counts were checked against the PDF text layer). 2021 to 2023 totals are from report text. Right: IC3 Recovery Asset Team (RAT) Financial Fraud Kill Chain results. Figures for 2018 to 2020 describe recoveries or freezes on BEC transfers to domestic accounts; IC3 added international transfers in April 2024, so the success rate is not a like-for-like series.

The Recovery Asset Team handled 3,900 incidents in 2025, almost four times the 1,061 of its first year, and froze $679 million. The success rate has slid each year since its 2020 peak of 82%. IC3 notes that kill chain requests, once mostly BEC, shifted in 2025 toward tech support and account takeover (ATO) cases, and that one ATO incident can involve 50 or more simultaneous ACH transfers to accounts at different banks.

What this means for MSPs

BEC and tech support scams are the two IC3 categories that land on small business clients through ordinary staff and ordinary tools. Their 2025 numbers:

Frequently asked questions

What is the IC3 report?

The IC3 report is the FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center’s annual Internet Crime Report. The 2025 edition, released in April 2026, counts 1,008,597 complaints and $20.877 billion in reported losses. It covers only what victims chose to report to ic3.gov.

How much money was lost to internet crime in 2025?

Victims reported $20.877 billion in losses to the FBI’s IC3 in 2025, up 26% from $16.6 billion in 2024 and about 14 times the $1.5 billion reported for 2016. Investment fraud alone accounted for $8.65 billion.

Which state has the most internet crime?

By raw count, California, with 116,414 complaints in 2025. Per resident, the District of Columbia (449 complaints per 100,000), Alaska (434) and Nevada (407) rank highest. California ranks 13th per capita but 2nd for losses per resident ($93).

What is the most common internet crime reported to the FBI?

Phishing and spoofing, with 191,561 complaints in 2025, followed by extortion (89,129) and investment fraud (72,984). By losses the order changes: investment fraud ($8.65 billion), business email compromise ($3.05 billion) and tech support scams ($2.13 billion).

How much did people over 60 lose to internet crime in 2025?

Complainants aged 60 and over reported $7.748 billion in losses from 201,266 complaints, 37% of every dollar reported to IC3. In 2016 the share was 23%. People 60+ filed 45% of tech support scam complaints.

Can the FBI get my money back if I report to IC3?

Sometimes. In 2025 the IC3 Recovery Asset Team ran 3,900 Financial Fraud Kill Chain incidents covering $1.16 billion in attempted theft and froze $679 million, a 58% success rate, down from 82% in 2020. The FBI says to call your bank to request a recall and file at ic3.gov immediately.

Methodology

References

1. FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center, 2025 Internet Crime Report (PDF). Accessed October 2026.
2. FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center, 2024 Internet Crime Report (PDF). Accessed October 2026.
3. FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center, 2023 Internet Crime Report (PDF). Accessed October 2026.
4. FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center, 2022 Internet Crime Report (PDF). Accessed October 2026.
5. FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center, 2021 Internet Crime Report (PDF). Accessed October 2026.
6. FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center, 2020 Internet Crime Report (PDF). Accessed October 2026.
7. FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center, 2019 Internet Crime Report (PDF). Accessed October 2026.
8. FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center, 2018 Internet Crime Report (PDF). Accessed October 2026.
9. FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center, 2017 Internet Crime Report (PDF). Accessed October 2026.
10. FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center, 2016 Internet Crime Report (PDF). Accessed October 2026.
11. FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center, 2023 Elder Fraud Report (PDF). Accessed October 2026.
12. FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center, 2022 Elder Fraud Report (PDF). Accessed October 2026.
13. FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center, 2021 Elder Fraud Report (PDF). Accessed October 2026.
14. FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center, 2020 Elder Fraud Report (PDF). Accessed October 2026.
15. U.S. Census Bureau, State Population Totals, Vintage 2025. Accessed October 2026.
16. U.S. Census Bureau, State Population Totals, Vintage 2019. Accessed October 2026.