The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) warned that Americans lost $3.5 billion to imposter scams in 2025, with reported losses nearly tripling since 2020.
Imposter scams were also the most reported fraud category last year, accounting for nearly one in three fraud reports filed with the FTC. In these scams, the fraudsters reach victims through text messages, phone calls, emails, social media, and search engine results. The costliest schemes typically involve a fake bank security alert that prompts targets to transfer funds to “protect” their accounts.
According to the FTC, victims lost nearly $1 billion to business impersonators (with bank impersonators being behind the most lucrative scams) and approximately $920 million to government impersonators. Social media was the most cost-effective attack vector for impersonators, with more than $2.1 billion in 2025 losses traced to social platforms (an eightfold increase since 2020).
Nearly one in three Americans who lost money in such scams were first contacted through social media, with Facebook losses alone exceeding those from text and email combined, while WhatsApp and Instagram ranked second and third.
“The FTC will use every tool available to combat one of the most pernicious forms of fraud—government and business impersonation—and to protect the integrity of the digital economy,” said Christopher Mufarrige, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection.
Overall reported fraud losses across all categories have surged to about $16 billion in 2025, the highest on record and roughly 25% above the prior year.
In March 2024, the FTC also warned that scammers were impersonating its employees to steal money after receiving many reports of scams in which fraudsters impersonated agency personnel to pressure Americans via phone calls, email, or text messages into wiring or transferring money.
Since its Impersonation Rule took effect in April 2024, the FTC has brought a dozen enforcement actions, securing more than $70 million in consumer redress and halting some imposter schemes.
Last year, the FTC announced law enforcement actions under this rule against MediaAlpha (government imposter scheme), American Tax Service (IRS imposter scheme), Blackstone Legal (phantom debt business imposter scheme), Click Profit (business imposter money-making scam), and Accelerated Debt Settlement (government and business imposter scheme).
It also filed a complaint against Innovative Partners in April 2026, alleging the company impersonated the government and insurance carriers to sell fraudulent health plans.
The same month, the FBI warned in its 2025 Internet Crime Report that U.S. victims lost almost $21 billion to cyber-enabled crimes throughout last year.
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