Cyber-Enabled Fraud Accounts for Most Financial Losses The report distinguishes general cybercrime complaints from what it describes as cyber-enabled fraud, a category of schemes in which criminals use the internet or other technology to steal money, information or identities or to facilitate fraudulent transactions. In 2025, IC3 received 452,868 cyber-enabled fraud complaints, representing approximately 45% of all complaints submitted to the center. Those cases were responsible for an extraordinary $17.7 billion in losses, or approximately 85% of all reported IC3 losses for the year. That disparity illustrates an important feature of modern fraud. The schemes that produce the most complaints are not necessarily the ones causing the largest financial losses. Of all cyber-enabled crimes, phishing and spoofing remained the most frequently reported crime category, generating 191,561 complaints. Extortion followed with 89,129 complaints, while investment-related schemes generated 72,984 complaints. Investment Fraud According to the graphic above, investment fraud was by far the most financially damaging category reported to IC3 in 2025. Victims reported approximately $8.65 billion in investment fraud losses. That single category accounted for more than 40% of all losses reported to IC3. Business email compromise (BEC) ranked second with approximately $3.05 billion in losses, followed by tech and customer-support scams at approximately $2.13 billion. Personal data breach-related complaints were associated with approximately $1.31 billion in losses, while confidence and romance scams resulted in approximately $929 million in reported losses. Government impersonation scams caused another $798 million in losses. The three-year comparison contained in the IC3 report is particularly revealing. Investment fraud complaints increased from 39,570 in 2023 to 47,919 in 2024 and 72,984 in 2025. Government impersonation complaints also climbed dramatically, from 14,190 in 2023 to 17,367 in 2024 and 32,424 in 2025. Tech-support complaints increased from 36,002 in 2024 to 47,794 in 2025. These trends show that fraudsters continue to refine schemes that rely less on technically sophisticated computer intrusions and more on manipulating victims into voluntarily transferring money. Cryptocurrency Has Become a Major Vehicle for Fraud IC3 received 181,565 cryptocurrency-related complaints in 2025, a 21% increase over 2024. Those complaints were associated with approximately $11.37 billion in losses, an increase of 22%. The average loss among cryptocurrency-related complainants was approximately $62,604, and 18,589 complainants reported losses exceeding $100,000. Cryptocurrency does not necessarily constitute a separate type of fraud. Instead, it increasingly serves as the mechanism for money transfers to investment scams, impersonation schemes, romance fraud and other crimes. The age distribution is especially noteworthy. Individuals aged 60 and older reported approximately $4.43 billion in cryptocurrency-related losses, substantially more than any other age group. People between 50 and 59 reported another $2.14 billion. These numbers help explain why cryptocurrency has become attractive to organized fraud operations. Transfers can occur rapidly, victims may have difficulty reversing transactions, and criminals can move proceeds through numerous accounts, wallets and jurisdictions. Continued on page 15 13 NEBRASKA BANKER
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTg3NDExNQ==