I just read the latest FBI report on cybercrime for 2025, and there are really a lot of interesting points. This is already the anniversary report — 25 years that IC3, the Internet Crime Complaint Center, has been operating. Based on over a million complaints, so the data is serious.

The most shocking — losses exceeded $20.8 billion. For comparison, in 2024 it was $16.5 billion, so a 26 percent increase in a year. And 85 percent of all losses are due to online scams. These are not just numbers — these are real people who lost money.

The cryptocurrency segment is particularly impressive. 181 thousand complaints related to crypto, with losses of $11.4 billion. Almost every fifth victim lost more than $100,000. That’s scale.

But the saddest part — who suffers. People over 60 received the biggest blow: 201 thousand complaints, losses of $7.75 billion. In crypto scams, they are actually the leaders — 13.7 thousand cases with losses of $2.76 billion. Why? Because they don’t understand the technology well, QR codes, crypto ATMs. Scammers know this and target this audience deliberately.

Another problem — secondary scams. A person is scammed once, and then “rescuers” come and say: we can return your money, send us a fee. And people fall for it. Among the elderly, there are 2,500 such cases, with losses of $5.4 billion.

Types of internet scams are diverse. Phishing leads in number — 191 thousand complaints. Extortion — 89 thousand. Investment fraud — 73 thousand. But in terms of money, investment scams top the list: $8.6 billion. Then come BEC emails — business email compromise — $3 billion, and tech support — $2.1 billion.

And now the most interesting — artificial intelligence. The FBI received over 22 thousand complaints where AI was used in scams. The damage exceeded $893 million. This is no longer science fiction — it’s the reality of 2025.

How exactly is AI used? Creating fake emails from executives, cloning voices, generating videos featuring celebrities. In investment scams, losses from AI fraud reached $632 million. Emotional scams — $19 million, where AI creates fake personas and asks for help supposedly from relatives.

Law enforcement is doing at least something. The FBI froze $679 million through special operations, warned 8,000 potential victims, saving $500 million. They conducted 27 joint operations with India against call center scammers — 475 arrests.

The simple conclusion: online scams are becoming more sophisticated, automated, and scalable. AI lowers the barriers to entry into this “criminal craft.” Elderly people are the main target because they are more trusting and less tech-savvy. Secondary scams — like refund schemes — are just a further level of cynicism.

For ordinary users — learn to recognize signs of scams. No one will return your money for a fee. Celebrities do not ask for crypto online. Executives do not send instructions via WhatsApp. For companies — update systems, use two-factor authentication, make backups. For regulators — it’s time to strengthen interregional cooperation and improve monitoring of fund flows.