The FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) has released its 2024 Annual Report, and the findings underscore the scale and sophistication of cybercrime today. With total reported losses soaring to $16.6 billion, the report illustrates how modern fraud schemes are evolving to exploit both technology and human behavior.

In this post, we highlight key insights from the report and offer a brief perspective on how organizations can adapt.

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A Surge in Crime and Costs

Record-High Financial Losses

• $16.6 billion in reported losses—a 33% increase over 2023.
  
  
• Nearly 150,000 complaints involving cryptocurrency, accounting for $9.3 billion in losses.
  
  
• Cyber-enabled fraud made up 83% of total losses, pointing to the growing impact of tech-driven scams.
  
  

Massive Volume of Complaints

• 859,532 complaints filed in 2024.
  
  
• Over 256,000 complaints resulted in an actual financial loss.
  
  
• The average loss per complaint with a financial impact: $19,372.
  
  

Who's Being Targeted?

Older Adults

• 60+ age group filed 147,000 complaints, suffering $4.8 billion in losses.
  
  
• This group lost the most per capita and were frequent victims of tech support scams, romance scams, and crypto investment fraud.
  
  

Investment Schemes Dominate Losses

• Investment fraud topped the chart at $6.57 billion in losses.
  
  
• Other major loss categories: Business Email Compromise (BEC) at $2.77 billion, tech support fraud at $1.46 billion, and personal data breaches at $1.45 billion.
  
  

The Rise of Cyber Threats

Ransomware & Critical Infrastructure

• Ransomware complaints increased 9%, with 3,156 incidents reported.
  
  
• The FBI tracked 67 new ransomware variants, many targeting critical infrastructure sectors.
  
  
• Top ransomware families included Akira, LockBit, and RansomHub.
  
  

Data Breaches

• Organizations reported more than 260,000 cyber threat complaints in total, including 4,800 from critical infrastructure sectors.
  
  

Emerging Trends & FBI Response

Operation Level Up

• An initiative focused on cryptocurrency investment scams.
  
  
• 4,323 victims were contacted, with estimated savings of over $285 million.
  
  

Global and Domestic Recoveries

• The FBI’s Recovery Asset Team helped freeze over $560 million through the Financial Fraud Kill Chain, a process designed to interrupt fraudulent wire transfers.
  
  

International Cooperation

• Joint operations with law enforcement in India led to a 700% increase in arrests related to call center fraud.
  
  

What It All Means

The 2024 IC3 report illustrates how cybercriminals are refining their methods, combining technical exploits with social engineering and impersonation tactics. These threats often begin with just a click—through emails, ads, spoofed websites, or seemingly trusted platforms.

Our Perspective

As a browser security company, Keep Aware recognizes the browser as a primary surface for many of these attacks. From phishing lures to crypto fraud landing pages, threats often take root at the point of user interaction. By empowering enterprises to monitor, detect, and neutralize these risks inside the browser, we aim to close the gap between awareness and action.

While the report makes clear that the FBI is making strides to disrupt criminal networks, the best defense starts with proactive, real-time protection—especially where threats begin.

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Read the full FBI 2024 IC3 Annual Report

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