The FBI has reported that Americans lost more than $16 billion to internet crime in 2024. That's a 33% increase over 2023.
The FBI said the average reported loss was $19,372 per person.
The FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center, or IC3, has been in operation for 25 years. The 2024 report said: ''During its infancy, IC3 received roughly 2,000 complaints every month. For the past five years, IC3 has averaged more than 2,000 complaints every day."
The most common internet crime involves fraud. IC3 pointed to ransomware as the most pervasive threat. Ransomware is malicious software that prevents a person, business, or government office from accessing data, and the perpetrators demand money to unlock the files.
One of the most widely dispersed ransomware attacks involves the group known as LockBit. IC3 said it had dealt a serious blow to LockBit.
"Since 2022, we have offered up thousands of decryption keys to victims of ransomware, avoiding over $800 million in payments," ICE said.
The FBI has asked anyone who has been targeted to contact a local FBI office so it can help with the case, but also be more aware of the widespread and evolving threat of internet crime across America.