A surge in cyber scammers impersonating U.S. government officials last year resulted in nearly $800 million in losses, the FBI reported on April 6.
The number of government impersonators nearly doubled between 2024 and 2025, rising from 17,367 to 32,424, the FBI said in its annual internet crime report. Losses from these scams increased from $406 million in 2024 to $798 million last year.
Impersonators used techniques such as text messages and artificial intelligence (AI)-generated voice messages – known as smishing and vishing, respectively – that claim to come from a senior U.S. official to gain access to victims’ personal accounts, the report said.
The scam was part of a broader increase in cyber-enabled crimes reported by the bureau’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3). It included AI and cryptocurrency scams that bilked Americans out of billions of dollars, especially the elderly.
Overall, IC3 received 1,008,597 complaints in 2025, an increase from 859,532 in 2024, the report said. Losses from these scams surpassed the $20 billion mark, rising from $16.6 billion in 2024 to $20.9 billion in 2025, a 26% increase.
“Every year, our adversaries become savvier and increasingly callous – attacking power grids, shutting down hospitals, and stoking geopolitical tensions,” the report says. “State-sponsored cyber actors wield every element of their national power to target the United States and its critical infrastructure. Skilled cybercriminals exploit new and longstanding vulnerabilities to steal our money and hold our data for ransom.”
In 2025, the top three types of internet crimes reported were phishing/spoofing, extortion, and investment schemes. Americans over 60 reported the most complaints of any age group and also the most losses at $7.7 billion, up 37% from 2024.
Those who submitted complaints involving cryptocurrency reported the highest losses, with 181,565 complaints totaling more than $11 billion in losses, the FBI said.
AI scams accounted for 22,364 complaints, costing Americans nearly $893 million, with the IC3 report featuring a section on AI for the first time in its nearly 25-year history. Among the AI scams that defrauded victims: fake social media profiles and believable videos depicting public figures or loved ones.
“AI-enabled synthetic content is becoming increasingly difficult to detect and easier to make, which allows criminal actors to potentially conduct successful fraud schemes against individuals, businesses, and financial institutions,” the report says.
Among the highest reported cyber threats targeting critical infrastructure organizations was ransomware. In 2025, the IC3 received more than 3,600 complaints reporting ransomware, with losses exceeding $32 million. The center also helped identify 63 new ransomware variants.
By state, the most complaints came from California, with 116,414, followed by Texas with 97,912, and Florida with 71,843.
But Washington, D.C. had the most complaints per 100,000 citizens, with 448.8.