Cybercrime is Growing Fast and It’s Not Slowing Down

The business of cybercrime is booming with no signs of slowing down. According to the FBI’s Internet Crimes division, IC3, over 8 million complaints have been reported since the department’s 2018 inception. In 2023 alone, consumers reported $12.5 billion in losses from the internet crime related incidents. Globally, the cost of cybercrime reached $8 trillion last year. That number is expected to jump to $9.5 trillion in 2024 and exceed $10.5 trillion in 2025. These are staggering numbers to comprehend but sadly, it is the reality of the world we live in. Cybercrime is a threat to both the business and the consumer and the only way to combat it is to know the facts.

Account Takeover (ATO) attacks increased by a staggering 354% year-over-year in Q2 of 2023, according to the Q3 Digital Trust & Safety Index report from the fraud management platform, Sift. Roughly 18% of consumers surveyed by Sift were victims of account takeover, with 62% of those attacks occurring in the 12 months prior to the time of the survey. Of those victims, 34% were defrauded more than once, often from the use of digital subscription apps, as well as online shopping and financial services sites

In 2023, Americans reported losing a breathtaking $5.6 billion in cryptocurrency scams alone, according to the FBI. The total number of reported complaints was over 70,000 in 2023, which was a 45% increase from 2022. Many of these complaints involved false-dating apps, social media traps, and what the media, unfortunately, refers to them as, “pig butchering” scams. These scams are evil in their intent and prey on the most vulnerable, many times victimizing seniors who have recently lost a loved one. These scams are insidious and the only way to defend against them is to simply not fall for them in the first place, which is easier said than done when in the midst of manipulation by a well-schooled and trained criminal.

These numbers are only going to increase as the use of traditional means of finance continue to decrease and reliance on applications and the internet to execute all of our investment and banking needs becomes the only method available. One of the biggest risks to investors and consumers alike is the increased development of Artificial Intelligence, and the abuse of this technology to replicate helpdesks from legitimate financial services companies.