Senator Maggie Hassan from New Hampshire and Representative Don Beyer from Virginia announced in a report that Americans lost nearly $18 billion to cyber fraud in 2025. This amount is estimated to be over $2 million per hour on average. The report also states that federal agencies do not have a comprehensive and unified record of the amount of money lost to or recovered from this type of fraud.
Lack of Incentive to Identify Fraudsters
The published report shows that the U.S. government provides no incentives for the private sector, such as financial institutions and social media companies, to identify and address cyber abuse. While online fraud is rapidly increasing, the response to these crimes has not changed proportionately with their growth. In fact, only a portion of the lost funds is returned to victims.
Increase in Fraud Among Seniors and Youth
According to an FBI report, individuals over 60 years old lost about $7.7 billion to internet fraud in 2025, which represents a 60 percent increase compared to 2024. Additionally, individuals under 18 lost nearly $13 million in 13,168 internet complaints. Experts believe that many victims do not report these types of fraud due to feelings of shame and fear of judgment, making it difficult to accurately estimate the damages.
The report also refers to the passage of a law called the ReportScams.Gov Act, aimed at creating a unified federal strategy to combat fraud and establishing a center for collecting information and assisting victims. A coordinated reporting system could help researchers and activists better assess the true scale of the problem and effectively inform the public about potential risks.
Analysts attribute the increasing risks from cyber fraud to the growing use of technology and artificial intelligence. These technologies allow fraudsters to easily gain the trust of victims and create more deceptive messages. Moreover, recent advancements in deepfake images and sounds enable them to deceive victims more effectively.
In this context, Jack Brown, executive director of the Cyber Policy Initiative at the University of Chicago, states that vulnerable populations are now more at risk than ever. He points out that vulnerable groups are easily exploited due to new access to online technologies.
