The Most Costly Financial Crimes in 2024
As financial crimes grow increasingly common, both individuals and businesses must invest more in cybersecurity and remain vigilant. But with so many threats on the rise, which financial crimes are the most damaging? The FBI has the data.
This graphic, created in partnership with Inigo Insurance, visualizes the costliest financial crimes in 2024.
Financial Crimes Reported by the FBI
Financial crimes remain alarmingly widespread. In 2024 alone, people filed 859,532 complaints with the FBI, reporting $16.6 billion in losses—a troubling 33% increase from 2023.
Older adults suffered the most: individuals aged 60 and over submitted 147,127 complaints and lost a staggering $4.8 billion.
The Big Phish: Investment Fraud & More
From Ponzi schemes to crypto scams, investment fraud has long captured the spotlight. It’s no surprise, then, that this category ranked as the costliest financial crime in 2024, netting fraudsters a staggering $6.6 billion.
| Crime Type | Loss |
|---|---|
| Investment | $6.6B |
| Business Email Compromise | $2.8B |
| Tech Support | $1.5B |
| Personal Data Breach | $1.5B |
| Non-payment/Non-delivery | $785M |
| Confidence* | $672M |
| Government Impersonation | $406M |
| Data Breach | $366M |
Many are familiar with those suspicious phishing emails trying to steal personal or business information. Business email compromise came in second, with losses totaling $2.8 billion in 2024.
Completing the top three is fraudulent tech support, a scam in which criminals convince victims their devices are infected with malware. This scheme raked in $1.5 billion in 2024.
Other Costly Financial Crimes
Personal data breaches also came with a steep price tag, totaling $1.5 billion in 2024, as reported by the FBI. Non-payment fraud—where someone knowingly makes a payment that will fail—cost victims $785 million. Meanwhile, confidence or romance fraud, in which scammers build trust through fake relationships to steal money or valuables, accounted for $672 million in losses.
Perhaps surprisingly, government impersonation scams and other data breaches ranked lower on the list. These two types of fraud came in seventh and eighth with losses of $405 million and $366 million, respectively.
Track Financial Crime Risks
Inigo’s Financial Institution experts proactively track financial crime risks, uncovering data-driven insights to expose hidden threats and empower wealth protectors to act decisively.
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