Printed from voicescam.com/stats/ · Updated 23 October 2026
Voice scam statistics
Reported fraud losses keep rising: US consumers reported losing $15.9 billion to fraud in 2025, and impostor scams, which include fake relatives, banks and officials, are the most reported type. Every figure here links to its source, and reported numbers undercount the real total.
If you just got a call
- Hang up. A real emergency will still be there in two minutes.
- Call the person back on a number you already have.
- Do not pay by gift card, wire, crypto or cash. Then read what to do after a scam call.
Key figures
| Figure | What it measures | Source |
|---|---|---|
| $15.9 billion | Fraud losses reported to the FTC by US consumers in 2025 | FTC |
| $12.5 billion | Fraud losses reported to the FTC in 2024 | FTC |
| $2.95 billion | Losses to impostor scams reported to the FTC in 2024 | FTC |
| $16.6 billion | Losses reported to the FBI's IC3 in 2024 | IC3 |
| $4.9 billion | Losses reported to IC3 by people aged 60 and over in 2024 | IC3 |
| Over $7.7 billion | Losses reported to IC3 by people aged 60 and over in 2025 | IC3 |
| About 1 in 10 | UK adults confident they could spot a deepfake, 2024 | Ofcom |
Phone and impostor scams
Impostor scams, where criminals pretend to be someone you trust, were the most commonly reported fraud to the FTC in 2024. Reported losses to government impostors alone rose by $171 million to $789 million in 2024 (FTC).
Consumers reported losing more money through bank transfers and crypto than all other payment methods combined (FTC).
Older adults
People aged 60 and over reported the largest losses to the FBI's internet crime centre in 2024: about $4.9 billion across more than 147,000 complaints (IC3). In 2025, over 201,000 people in that age group reported losses of more than $7.7 billion (IC3).
Deepfakes and cloned voices
There is no reliable official count of AI voice cloning scams yet, because most reports do not record whether a voice was cloned. What surveys show is low confidence: in the UK, 43% of people aged 16 and over said they had seen at least one deepfake in six months, and only about one in ten felt confident they could spot one (Ofcom, 2024).
Why the real numbers are higher
- Many people never report a scam, often out of embarrassment.
- Reports are made by the public and are not all verified.
- Age is optional on many reports, so figures by age are incomplete.
- Different agencies count different things, so their totals do not match.
The pattern behind the numbers
Whatever the scam, the same warning signs show up again and again:
- A trusted name or voice, such as a relative, bank or official.
- An emergency with no time to check.
- Secrecy. "Don't tell anyone."
- A payment that is hard to reverse: wire, gift cards, crypto or cash.
Sources
- Federal Trade Commission, press release: "FTC testifies to Joint Economic Committee on agency's efforts to combat fraud". Published 25 March 2026. Checked 23 October 2026.
- Federal Trade Commission, press release: "New FTC data show a big jump in reported losses to fraud to $12.5 billion in 2024". Published March 2025. Checked 23 October 2026.
- FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center, 2024 IC3 Annual Report. Published April 2025. Checked 23 October 2026.
- FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center, elder fraud leaflet: "IC3 Elder Fraud in 2025". Published 2026. Checked 23 October 2026.
- Ofcom, "A deep dive into deepfakes that demean, defraud and disinform" (Deepfakes Polls, June 2024). Published 23 July 2024. Checked 23 October 2026.
Common questions
How common are AI voice scams?
There is no reliable official count yet, because most fraud reports do not record whether a voice was cloned. Agencies including the FBI and FTC have warned that criminals are using cloned voices.
Who loses the most money?
In FBI figures, people aged 60 and over report the largest total losses.
Why do FTC and FBI figures differ?
They collect different reports from different people, and count categories differently. Both undercount the real total.
How often is this page updated?
When a source publishes new figures. The date at the top shows when we last checked.
