Policy & Ethicsgenerative aifinancial frauddata brokersconsumer protection
American Consumers Lose Far More To Scammers
8.1
A Consumer Federation of America analysis released in 2025 estimates US consumers lose at least $119 billion annually to fraud, far exceeding the FBI's $16.6 billion 2024 tally. Using federal data that only about 14% of scams are reported, the CFA identifies investment schemes—including $46.6 billion in 'pig butchering' crypto cons—as the largest drain and warns AI and data brokers worsen targeting.
Key Points
- 1Estimate: US consumers lose at least $119 billion annually to fraud, far above FBI figures
- 2Highlights investment schemes, like 'pig butchering', accounted for roughly $46.6 billion in 2024 losses
- 3Urges stricter data-broker rules because cheap lists plus AI enable micro-targeted, high-loss scams
Scoring Rationale
Strong nationwide loss estimate and policy relevance; limited by nonprofit extrapolation, secondary reporting, and uncertain reporting rates.
Sources
Public references used for this report.
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