Note: In looking at the FTC Consumer Sentinel Report for 2024 it is important to note that the fraud statistics probably include both unreimbursed fraud transactions (unauthorized transactions) including 1) retail wires and 2) fraudulent checks and unreimbursed scam transactions (authorized transactions). So, this reporting will be different than what other countries report such as Australia and the UK, where it is typically scam transactions only being reported.
The FTC just came out with its Consumer Sentinel Report for 2024. This consumer-only report is “about fraud, identity theft, and other consumer protection topics.” The reported fraud increased from $10 billion in 2023 to $12.5 billion in 2024, a 25% increase. But what is most troubling is fraud losses have more than doubled since 2021. See Chart 1. This is a very disturbing trend.
Chart 1: Consumer Sentinel Data Book US Fraud Losses by Year
To put these numbers in perspective, the Australian National Anti-Scam Centre just released its 2024 “Report of the National Anti-Scam Centre on scams data and activity 2024”. These two reports are not exactly the same as Australia is reporting scam transactions only, but both reports are clearly indicative of consumer losses in each country. Chart 2 shows the Australian scam transaction losses were $2.03 billion in 2024, a drop of 26% from 2023 and close to even with the 2021 scam loss numbers.
Chart 2: Australian Consumer Scam Losses by Year
What is the difference between the two countries? The Australian government has taken leadership in the prevention of scam losses; the government takes down scam investment websites; there is the National Anti-Scam Centre; the banks, digital platforms and telcos have voluntary scam prevention codes; and the Australian government just passed the Scam Prevention Framework legislation. The US has a very limited number of scam control capabilities.
2024 Sentinel Report Analysis
In 2024, the Sentinel report shows there was an increase in the number of consumer reports over the past two years (2024=6.6 million, 2023=5.5 million, 2022=5.3 million, 2021= 6.1 million) but close to the number reported in 2021. There was a 20% increase in reports in 2024 as outlined in Chart 3.
Chart 3: Sentinel Tracking of Number of Reports Per Year
The overall median loss went from $500 to $497 in 2024. The report continues to show higher median losses ($200 higher in 2024) for the elderly in both 2023 and 2024 (see Chart 4). So, what has happened? The number of reported losses has increased, along with the number of smaller losses, making the median loss less significant vs. the overall losses and the increase in the number of larger losses (see Chart 8). But it does show the 70+ age group has a much higher median loss.
Chart 4: 2024 vs 2023-Median Loss by Age Group
Chart 5 shows the fraud losses by age group. The 60+ age group (typically defined as elderly by banking and state regulations) had 42% of the reported fraud that listed their age (totals in Chart 5 do not match total reported fraud in the 2024 Sentinel report). In some US banks, the percent of total scam losses by the elderly can be as high as 90% of reported scams (authorized scam transactions).
Chart 5: 2024 Reported Fraud and Losses by Age
Chart 6 shows the top 10 fraud categories for 2024. The top two, investment scams and impersonation scams, are the same as it was in 2023. Imposter scams include romance scams and help desk scams. These top two categories are where the fraudsters have really honed their skills, especially in the massive scam compounds in Myanmar and Cambodia.
The average loss of a fraud report that “reported an actual loss” dropped from $14,245 in 2023 to $12,651 in 2024 because the number of fraud reports with a reported loss in 2024 increased by 11% to 38% of the total fraud reports in 2024. This is outlined in Chart 7 below.
Chart 7: 2024 Average Loss per Fraud Report Which Reported a Loss
| 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | |
| Fraud losses (billions) | $12.5 | $10.0 | $8.8 |
| Fraud reports (millions) | 2.6 | 2.6 | 2.4 |
| % of fraud reports with loss | 38% | 27% | 26% |
| Average loss per Fraud report with a loss | $12,651 | $14,245 | $14,102 |
Chart 8 shows the loss amounts by average dollar range. My guess is the dollar range “more than $10,000” is grossly underreported as this where the victims are so distressed they may not be reporting. This category nonetheless increased from 98,348 reported fraud losses in 2023 to 124,708 in 2024, a 27% increase. This is where you will see the large romance and investment scams. Note the large number of small losses less than $1,000 (63% of the fraud reports with a fraud loss) which skews the median loss numbers much lower.
Chart 8: 2024 Reported Fraud Losses by Dollar Range
As we look deeper in the Sentinel report, it identifies the contact methods for the fraud and the losses by contact method. Telephone (text and phone calls) and social media contacts are at the top of the list for fraud losses, followed by ‘websites or apps’. This is why telcos and digital platforms need to be more committed to helping stop the fraud where it starts. See Chart 9.
Chart 9: Number of Reports in 2024 and Amount Lost by Contact Method
Chart 10 shows the payment method for these frauds in 2024. Bank transfers or payments is highest, followed by cryptocurrency transactions and in third, payment apps. The “payment app or service” total losses increased from $210 million to $391 million in 2024 (almost double), while “bank transfer or payment” total losses increased by only 10% in 2024. Crypto was unchanged in 2024.
Chart 10. 2024 Fraud Report by Payment Types
Observations
The Sentinel report has a number of shortcomings:
- Romance scams are not broken out. They are contained within impersonation scams.
- Investments scams probably include pig butchering scams (a combination of romance and investment scams).
- The report includes everything from investment scams to funeral service complaints. It needs to be better organized. There should be a section just for “financial” losses with fraud losses (unauthorized transactions) and scam losses (authorized transactions) separated. I am sure there are complaints of unreimbursed unauthorized wires and fraudulent checks included in the current “fraud” loss numbers.
Summary
The latest FTC Consumer Sentinel Report continues to confirm the US is not focused on solving the consumer scams problem. The losses continue to grow. Impersonation scams (which include romance and help desk scams) and investment scams are the highest loss categories. And cryptocurrency and bank transfers/wires are the main ways of making scam payments. Although the report does not clearly spell it out, more consumers are losing extremely large dollar amounts in investment and romance scams.
Australia, with its scam controls, is seeing a dramatic drop in scam losses, while the US, with limited scam controls, continues to see scams losses rise. That is the key takeaway.
And, for sure, the loss numbers will increase next year. Here are the reasons why:
- There is no national scam strategy.
- Gen AI deepfakes will make romance and investment scams more realistic.
- The current Administration is promoting cryptocurrency, which will convince more consumers they should be investing in it. Scams abound around crypto.
- There is limited removal of digital platform bogus ads and scam searches and removal of scammers on dating sites.
- There is no bank regulation around requiring a scam strategy with scam controls and money mule management.
- Although the telcos have added some controls, scam calls and text messages easily get through.
- As other English-speaking countries add good scam controls, fraudsters will increase the attacks against unprotected US consumers.
So, sit back and wait for the FTC 2025 Consumer Sentinel report. Even your six-year-old can make this prediction: It will just get worse.
