Government official impersonation scam complaints doubled in 2025, FBI report shows

The scams, some of which were fueled by AI, can be especially effective because they exploit the built-in authority and urgency people associate with institutions.

The number of complaints filed with the FBI that described cyberscammers impersonating government officials nearly doubled between 2024 and 2025 and resulted in some $800 million in losses last year, FBI data released Monday shows.

Recorded government impersonation complaints rose from some 17,300 in 2024 to nearly 32,500 in 2025, the FBI’s 2025 Internet Crime Complaint Center report shows. The center, dubbed IC3, documented some $797 million in losses in 2025 from those efforts, up from around $405 million in the year prior.

That type of scam was listed among the top five cyber-enabled fraud crimes by both number of recorded occurrences and amount of money lost. Other major cyber crimes include romance, tech support and investment scams.

The spike comes amid ...