Americans lost nearly $21 billion to cyber fraud and digital scams in 2025, new Federal Bureau of Investigation data shows. The agency recently published its full report for 2025, in which it revealed total reports of digital fraud to The Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) increased by nearly 150,000 cases or 17% year-on-year. Pennsylvania alone sees thousands of reports a year and hundreds of millions of dollars in losses for residents.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) received more than 75,000 reports of digital scams or fraud in Pennsylvania in 2025. Many of these scams are now tied into crypto, AI and trading scams, where people are convinced by promises of easy money. The average loss per victim in 2025 was an astonishing $20,000. This shows how fraud isn't just increasing in scale, it's also becoming more ambitious and potentially costly.
Phishing attempts are the core driver behind losses. This is where a scammer disguises a digital address, like an email, website URL or phone number, and then attempts to trick people into entering or giving over their personal data by posing as a legitimate service.
Another common digital scam angle in Pennsylvania in particular is online shopping fraud. These are fake websites selling products that don't meet standards, or are just phishing sites to get your information.
Montgomery County has around 19% of residents aged 65 years or older, and the IC3 data revealed this demographic is increasingly targeted by online fraudsters. Especially for impersonation and phishing scams. Nationally over 60s lose $7.7 billion a year to fraud, and around $150 million in Pennsylvania alone.
But that doesn't mean younger people aren't a target either. Although they aren't so often a target due to lower finances in general, their huge exposure to online payments and app usage means broad targeting crimes that have less significant individual payoffs are still a strategy criminals pursue.
All of which proves that cybercrime and fraud isn't just some far off national issue - it affects local people at every level of American society.
Digital fraud is now easier than ever to perpetrate at scale. The rise of global connectivity makes cross-border crimes easier, and they're difficult to prosecute. Meanwhile the US is the world's largest economy, so it makes a clear target for international fraudsters.
Instant digital payments like crypto, which are difficult to trace without the involvement of specialists, also make reversing and recovering fraudulent transactions more difficult.
IC3 reports say it now receives an average of 3000 complaints a day from US victims of cyber fraud.
For one example, the regulated US online casino business has been growing a lot in recent years, from basically zero in 2016 to a huge multi-billion-dollar business in 2026.
For this reason, and others, online casino players in Pennsylvania often used trusted comparison sites to look at all the latest gambling platforms online. These sites curate lists that display clear licensing and transparent information on security, payment systems and other features all in one place. So customers can assess the most reputable operators in a busy market.
Visible licensing information, reputable payment providers and games and a strong internationally recognized brand across multiple markets is one thing to look out for.
Another key piece of key advice law enforcement give to help Americans protect themselves from scams, is to pause before sending payments online. Fraudsters and scammers will often come up with a reason to push you to act quickly. As, when you sit and think you're more likely to see the holes in their scheme.
Consider ways to verify unsolicited links, senders or the person you're talking to - independently of their communications. If they're a legitimate service they won't mind waiting a little while for you to confirm something. For example, if a bank calls you about a security threat - hang up and call them back on an official number you found online.
Key red flags include this sense of urgency to send a payment, requests to send crypto payments and companies contacting you asking for your username or password.
When looking at emails and website addresses, pay careful attention to them. Scammers will use small differences to the name of known and trusted companies to trick you into thinking they're the legitimate business.
Multi-factor authentication is also key. No matter how annoying it might be to have to answer a text on your phone before you log in. Never turn it off. This can make all the difference, even if one layer of your account or device security is compromised.
The FBI has its own extensive list of resources to help people avoid scams, with more detailed information than contained here.
The key takeaway from all this is that fraud is rising, but minimizing the risk is not complicated if you take a few steps towards it. And that starts with a healthy scepticism towards unsolicited contact from any online service.
