According to a new report from the FBI, internet financial crime in the United States reached $12.5 billion in 2023, a 22% increase over the prior year.
The data was compiled by the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center, which allows the public to report cybercrime directly to the agency. It logged 880,418 complaints in 2023, a 10% increase over 2022.
The $12.5 billion in losses, the FBI says, is “conservative” because many crimes go unreported.
“Today’s cyber landscape is threatened by a multitude of malicious actors who have the tools to conduct large-scale fraud schemes, hold our money and data for ransom, and endanger our national security,” says Timothy Langan, the FBI’s executive assistant director. “Profit-driven cybercriminals and nation-state adversaries alike have the capability to paralyze entire school systems, police departments, healthcare facilities, and individual private sector entities.”