Imposter Scam Loss Trend
How reported losses to impersonation scams — government, business, and family imposters — have grown in the United States since 2020.
Last reviewed: 1 June 2026
Imposter scams — where fraudsters pretend to be a trusted person or institution — are consistently the most commonly reported fraud category in the United States. Losses have risen substantially since 2020 as scammers have expanded their playbooks to include multi-layered 'government and bank impersonation' schemes.
All figures are from FTC Consumer Sentinel Network reports and cover US consumer reports only.
Key figures
$2.95 billion — the second-highest loss category after investment scams
Total reported imposter scam losses (FTC 2024)
Source: FTC Consumer Sentinel Network Data Book 2024 (2024)
$789 million — up $171 million from 2023
Government impersonation scam losses (FTC 2024)
Source: FTC Consumer Sentinel Network Data Book 2024 (2024)
$310 million — for comparison with the 2024 total
Combined business and government imposter losses (FTC 2020)
Source: FTC Consumer Sentinel Network Data Book 2020 (2020)
Reports of impersonation scammers stealing $100,000+ from older adults increased more than fourfold from 2020 to 2024
Fourfold increase in impersonation reports causing very high losses to older adults
Source: FTC Data: More Than Four-Fold Increase in Impersonation Scammer Reports (press release, August 2025) (2024)
Key takeaways
- Imposter scams are the most commonly reported fraud category by volume, accounting for $2.95 billion in losses in 2024.
- Government impersonation losses rose $171 million in a single year, reaching $789 million in 2024.
- Combined business and government imposter losses grew from $310 million in 2020 to $2.95 billion in 2024.
- The FTC documented a more than fourfold rise in reports of impersonators stealing $100,000 or more from older adults.
Frequently asked questions
What is an imposter scam?
An imposter scam is any fraud where the scammer pretends to be someone else — a government agency, a bank, a business, a family member, or a romantic partner — to gain the victim's trust and extract money or personal information. The FTC classifies government imposters, business imposters, and family/friend imposters as separate sub-categories, but all share the same core deceptive mechanism.