The FBI says cybercriminals have stolen a record $16,6 billion in 2024, marking an increase in losses of over 33% compared to the previous year.
According to the bureau’s annual Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) report, IC3 recorded 859,532 complaints last year (256,256 with actual loss), amounting to an average loss of $19,372.
“Last year saw a new record for losses reported to IC3, totaling a staggering $16.6 billion. Fraud represented the bulk of reported losses in 2024, and ransomware was again the most pervasive threat to critical infrastructure, with complaints rising 9% from 2023,” said B. Chad Yarbrough, the FBI’s Operations Director for Criminal and Cyber.
However, it’s important to note that all figures mentioned in IC3’s report are based on known online crime cases discovered by law enforcement or reported by victims directly.
As such, they represent only a fraction of the actual losses caused by cybercrime each year in the United States and worldwide, as many incidents will go undetected or are never reported to the authorities.