FBI says online scams raked in record $16.6 billion last year, up 33% from 2023

Scammers stole a record $16.6 billion in 2024, the FBI said on Wednesday.

That marked a 33% increase from 2023, according to the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center's annual report. More than a quarter million complaints reported money lost to a scam, with an average of a loss of more than $19,000. 

"As nearly all aspects of our lives have become digitally connected, the attack surface for cyber actors has grown exponentially," the FBI's Operations Director for Criminal and Cyber B. Chad Yarbrough said in a note attached to the report.