Investment fraud has become the most lucrative crime category for hackers, nearly doubling from $4.6 billion in losses in 2023 to $8.6 billion in 2025, according to the FBI’s latest Internet Crime Report.
In just two years, investment scams have grown 87%. This acceleration mirrors a broader criminalisation trend: tech support and customer support scams jumped 131% over the same period, reaching $2.1 billion.
Lottery, sweepstakes, and inheritance scams more than doubled, climbing from $94 million to $194 million. Criminals are clearly moving upmarket.
People over 60 lost more than $3.5 billion to investment scams alone last year, and it made up nearly half of all elder fraud losses. Lately, younger investors are also getting pulled in, because criminals keep refining their social engineering tricks, and they use market volatility to sell fake stock tips or run Ponzi schemes that look like something pretty legitimate.
Most investment scam tactics start with unsolicited contact, like an email, a social media message, or a phone call. The people behind it promise returns that are way too good; they try to rush you into a quick decision and then ask for wire transfers or cryptocurrency deposits.
The FBI says it’s smart to verify any investment opportunity through official regulatory channels and to talk with a licensed financial advisor before you hand over funds.
And as investment scams get more sophisticated, with AI-generated executive impersonations and deepfake videos, staying alert is really essential. The data suggests criminals are placing bigger bets on higher-value targets, so investment fraud is becoming the cybercrime epidemic of 2025.
