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: 7 July 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
Government impersonation losses reported to the FBI IC3 reached $797,943,193 across 32,424 complaints in 2025, nearly double the $405,624,084 reported in 2024
Imposter scam trend continuing into 2025 (FBI/FTC)
Source: FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) 2025 Annual Report (2025)
$413,206,251 across 8,628 complaints, up from $208,096,366 in 2024
Government impersonation losses among adults 60+ (FBI IC3 2025)
Source: FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) 2025 Annual Report (2025)
More than 80,000 complaints with losses exceeding $2.9 billion
Tech support and government impersonation call-centre fraud (FBI IC3 2025)
Source: FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) 2025 Annual Report (2025)
$2,134,675,818 across 47,794 complaints, up from $1,464,755,976 in 2024
Tech and customer support impersonation losses (FBI IC3 2025)
Source: FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) 2025 Annual Report (2025)
$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)
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)
846K reports — 33% of the Fraud group and 13% of all Consumer Sentinel reports
Imposter scams: share of all reports (FTC 2024)
Source: KPMG Regulatory Insights: Fraud, Identity Theft, and Other Scams (2024 FTC Data Book Insights) (2024)
17,367 complaints and $405,624,084 in losses
Government impersonation complaints and losses (FBI IC3 2024)
Source: FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) 2024 Annual Report (2024)
$208,096,366
Government impersonation losses among adults 60+ (FBI IC3 2024)
Source: FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) 2024 Annual Report (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)
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.