The Scam Exposure Index 2026

-Record $20.9 Billion Lost to Internet Scams and Fraud Last Year as FBI Complaints Top 1 Million for the First Time

-The Average Scam Costs Victims More Than 14 Months of Rent or Over Three Months of Pay-

Americans lost a record $20.9 billion to internet crime in 2025, and for the first time, the FBI received more than 1 million complaints in a single year. Losses jumped 26% from $16.6 billion in 2024 and have nearly quintupled since 2020, when Americans reported $4.2 billion, according to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3).

The 1,008,597 complaints filed in 2025 shattered the previous record of 880,418, set in 2023, and were up 17% from 859,532 the year before. The surge reached nearly every corner of the country: reported losses rose in 49 of the 51 jurisdictions — falling only in Washington, D.C., and Wyoming — and complaint counts rose in 47 of 51.

But raw dollar totals say more about population than risk. California tops every dollar ranking because nearly 40 million people live there. The more revealing question is what a scam actually costs the people who live in each state.

To answer it, Spokeo — a people search company used millions of times a month to verify unknown callers, online sellers and would-be romantic partners — analyzed the FBI’s 2025 state-level data alongside U.S. Census Bureau and Bureau of Labor Statistics figures. The Scam Exposure Index ranks all 50 states and D.C. on four measures: how often residents report scams, how much they lose per resident, and what an average loss means against two numbers everyone recognizes — the local rent and the local paycheck.

Here’s what we found.

Key Findings

A Record Year for Internet Crime: The FBI logged a record $20.9 billion in reported internet crime losses in 2025, up 26% from 2024, and a record 1,008,597 complaints, the first year the total topped 1 million.

The Average Scam Costs Americans More Than 14 Months of Rent: Nationally, the average reported loss across the 23 crime types aimed at individuals was $21,339 in 2025, equal to 14.4 months of the national median rent ($1,487).

The Average Scam Costs Americans More Than Three Months of Pay: The same $21,339 average loss equals 14.1 weeks of the average American paycheck ($1,514 a week), more than three months of work.

Nevada Is the Most Scam-Exposed State in America: Nevadans file scam complaints at the highest rate in the country (352.4 per 100,000 residents) and lose more per resident ($8.4 million per 100,000) than any state but the District of Columbia. The average Nevada loss, $23,713, equals nearly 14 months of the state’s median rent — or 17.7 weeks of its average paycheck.

In Hawaii, the Average Scam Costs Nearly Half a Year of Pay: Hawaii’s average reported loss, $34,031, equals 25.0 weeks of the state’s average paycheck — the heaviest paycheck hit in the nation — and 17.5 months of its median rent. Investment fraud accounts for 70% of the state’s individual-targeted losses.

A Scam Costs More Than Two Years of Rent in North Dakota: The average reported loss in North Dakota, $25,669, equals 26.2 months of the state’s median rent ($980), the highest ratio in the country — driven by investment fraud, which accounts for 66% of the state’s individual-targeted losses across 103 complaints.

Louisiana and Vermont Are the Safest States for Scams: Louisiana ranks 51st, with the country’s lowest losses per resident ($1.7 million per 100,000), and Vermont 50th, with the smallest average loss in the nation ($9,927).

Download the Data: The complete state-by-state data behind the Scam Exposure Index, with every state’s rank, index score and all four measures, is free to download and use with credit to Spokeo. [Data download link (CSV) to be added at publication]

The Most Scam-Exposed States

Nevada ranks No. 1 with an index score of 100, leading the nation on complaint rate and ranking second on per-resident losses. Hawaii follows at No. 2 (90.6) on the strength of severity: a middling complaint rate, but the country’s heaviest paycheck hit.

California (No. 3) has the largest average loss in the nation ($36,391, 19.5 weeks of the average California paycheck) and the third-highest losses per resident. Arizona (No. 4) posts the fourth-highest complaint and loss rates in the nation, and its total reported losses rose 61% in a single year. Washington, D.C. (No. 5) leads the nation on losses per resident ($9.1 million per 100,000) and ranks third on complaint rate (326.0 per 100,000) — though its high wages soften the blow, at 11.2 weeks of the average D.C. paycheck.

The rest of the top 10: North Dakota (6th), South Dakota (7th), Florida (8th), New Jersey (9th) and Montana (10th). Five of the ten are Western states.

The Least-Exposed States

Louisiana ranks 51st, behind Vermont (50th), West Virginia (49th), Kentucky (48th) and Indiana (47th). Louisiana has the country’s lowest loss rate; Mississippi, at 41st, files the fewest complaints per resident (133.1 per 100,000).

West Virginia is the cautionary tale in the bottom five: its total reported losses nearly quadrupled in 2025, from $24.2 million to $92.6 million — the biggest jump in the country — but most of that came from business email compromise, a corporate crime that this index deliberately excludes from its household measures.

What a Scam Actually Costs: More Than Two Years of Rent, Nearly Half a Year of Pay

Nationally, the average individual-targeted complaint carried a reported loss of $21,339 in 2025. Measured against the bills Americans actually pay, that is 14.4 months of the national median gross rent ($1,487) — and 14.1 weeks of the average American paycheck. The average reported scam now costs more than a year of housing, or more than three months of work.

Measured in rent, North Dakota tops the scale at 26.2 months, followed by South Dakota (22.5), Montana (18.6), Hawaii (17.5) and California (17.3). Measured in pay, Hawaii is the harshest place in America to be scammed: 25.0 weeks of the average paycheck, with North Dakota (19.7), California (19.5), South Dakota (19.3) and New Jersey (18.3) behind it. Massachusetts gets off lightest on both scales — 7.1 months of rent, 6.8 weeks of pay — painful, but less than half the national figure.

One scam type does most of the damage everywhere: investment fraud was the largest source of individual-targeted losses in 50 of the 51 jurisdictions. The lone exception was Rhode Island, where 35 credit card and check fraud complaints accounted for $30 million — 54% of the state’s individual-targeted losses.

The 10 Costliest Scams Targeting Individuals — and How to Avoid Them

The record numbers are not abstract. Ten FBI complaint categories aimed at individuals account for $15.5 billion of the $20.9 billion Americans reported losing in 2025. Ranked by reported losses in the FBI’s 2025 Internet Crime Report, here is how to avoid each one.

1. Investment fraud

Americans reported $8.6 billion in losses across 72,984 complaints — an average of $118,500 each. 

How it works: A stranger online, or a new “friend” in a group chat, steers you to a trading platform or crypto app that shows big, fake gains. When you try to withdraw, you are told to pay a fee or tax first, and the money is gone.

How to avoid it: Check any platform or adviser at investor.gov before sending a dollar, and treat a fee to unlock your own money as the scam’s final act.

2. Tech and customer support scams

Losses reached $2.1 billion, up 46% in a year. 

How it works: A pop-up, call or email claims your computer or account has been hacked and gives you a number to call. The “technician” takes remote control of your device and talks you into paying for fake repairs or moving your savings to a “safe” account.

How to avoid it: Never call a number from a pop-up or give remote access to someone who contacted you first. Close the window and call the company on the number printed on your card or bill.

3. Sensitive data breach

The FBI logged 67,456 complaints and $1.3 billion in losses. 

How it works: Criminals steal your sensitive information, such as passwords, account logins or your Social Security number, often through a hacked company or a phishing message. They use it to drain accounts, open credit in your name or take over your email.

How to avoid it: Use a unique password and two-factor authentication on your email and financial accounts, freeze your credit with all three bureaus, and act on breach notices instead of ignoring them.

4. Romance and confidence scams

• Americans reported 23,159 cases and $929.3 million in losses, up 38% in a single year. 

How it works: A new match or online friend builds trust over weeks or months, usually while avoiding video calls or meeting in person. Then come the requests for money: an emergency, a travel cost or a can’t-miss investment.

How to avoid it: Run a reverse phone lookup on the person before the feelings get expensive: run their name, phone number, email or username through a people search tool like Spokeo — details that don't match the story they've told you are the red flag — and never send money or crypto to someone you have not met in person.

5. Government impersonation

• Losses nearly doubled to $797.9 million. 

How it works: A caller, text or letter claims to be from the IRS, Social Security, the police or another agency and says you owe money or face arrest. They demand fast payment by gift card, wire, crypto or cash.

How to avoid it: Government agencies do not demand payment by phone, gift card or crypto. Hang up and call the agency on its official number.

6. Non-payment and non-delivery

• The FBI logged 56,478 complaints and $503.4 million in losses. 

How it works: You pay for something online that never arrives, or you ship an item and the buyer never pays. Fake storefronts, marketplace listings and social media ads are common.

How to avoid it: Buy from sellers you can verify, pay by credit card rather than wire, payment app or gift card, and be wary of prices far below market.

7. Employment scams

• Losses rose 37% to $362.9 million. 

How it works: A recruiter offers an easy, often remote job with little vetting, then asks you to pay for training or equipment, or to deposit a check and send part of it back. The check bounces, and you owe the bank.

How to avoid it: Real employers do not charge you to start work or send you a check to buy supplies. Verify the opening on the company’s own careers page.

8. Credit card and check fraud

• Complaints rose 46% to 18,774, with $282.7 million lost. 

How it works: Criminals use stolen card numbers or forged and altered checks to make purchases or withdrawals in your name. Others send you a fake check and ask you to return part of it.

How to avoid it: Turn on transaction alerts, review statements every week and report unfamiliar charges immediately. Never deposit a check from a stranger and send part of it back.

9. Real estate and rental fraud

• Losses jumped by more than half to $275.1 million. 

How it works: Scammers copy a real listing, post it at a below-market price and pose as the owner or landlord. They pressure you to pay a deposit or first month’s rent before you can see the property.

How to avoid it: Never pay a deposit on a property you have not toured in person, and confirm who owns it through county property records.

10. Phishing and spoofing

• It is the FBI’s most-reported crime type, with 191,561 complaints, and losses more than tripled to $215.8 million. 

How it works: A text, email or call that looks like it comes from your bank, a delivery company or a familiar brand urges you to click a link or confirm your details. The link leads to a fake site that steals your login or payment information.

How to avoid it: Do not tap links in unexpected messages. Open the company’s app or type its address yourself, and report the message at ic3.gov.

Conclusion

Internet crime set records on every axis in 2025: the most complaints ever, the most money lost. The Scam Exposure Index shows the burden is anything but even — the average reported loss equals 6.8 weeks of pay in Massachusetts but 25.0 weeks — nearly half a year — in Hawaii, and what one state absorbs as an expensive lesson lands elsewhere as more than two years of rent. Where you live shapes what a scam costs. Knowing exactly who you’re dealing with is still the cheapest protection there is.

Methodology

Spokeo ranked all 50 states and the District of Columbia on four metrics built from the FBI’s 2025 Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) state-level data and federal benchmark figures. Complaints and losses cover the 23 named IC3 crime types aimed primarily at individuals. Business email compromise, ransomware and data breach — categories that mostly record losses to organizations — are excluded, so the index focuses on scams that mostly target individuals. Also excluded are complaints the FBI’s state tables list as “No Lead Value,” which are assigned no crime type and carry almost no reported losses. 

We used a Z-score distribution to scale each metric relative to the mean across all 50 states and Washington, D.C., using the population standard deviation, and capped outliers at +/-3. All four metrics run in the same direction (a higher value means more exposure), so no sign flips were needed. A state’s overall ranking was calculated by averaging its Z-scores across all four metrics; for display, scores are rescaled from 0 to 100 using linear min–max scaling, so the highest-scoring state is 100 and the lowest is 0. The rescaling does not change the order of the rankings. Here’s a closer look at the metrics we used:

• Scam frequency: Individual-targeted IC3 complaints per 100,000 residents, 2025 (FBI IC3 2025 Internet Crime Report; IC3 state-level data feed; Census Bureau Vintage 2025 population estimates)
• Scam losses: Individual-targeted IC3 losses per 100,000 residents, 2025 (same IC3 state data and Census population figures)
• Rent impact: Average loss per complaint, expressed in months of state median gross rent, 2025 losses against 2024 rents (Census Bureau ACS 2024 1-year, table B25064)
• Paycheck impact: Average loss per complaint, expressed in weeks of the state average weekly wage, both from 2025 (Bureau of Labor Statistics, Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, 2025 annual averages)