The FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) has released its 2024 Annual Report, revealing what officials describe as “staggering” levels of cyber-enabled fraud. Total losses reported to IC3 last year reached $16.6 billion, with business email compromise (BEC) continuing to be one of the most financially damaging threats.
According to the report, BEC ranked as the 7th most reported crime in 2024, with 21,442 complaints. However, it was the second costliest, accounting for nearly $2.8 billion in losses.
The scale of impact becomes even clearer when looking at the longer-term trend. Between 2022 and 2024, companies reported almost $8.5 billion in BEC-related losses to IC3, underscoring how persistent and profitable this attack vector remains for cybercriminals.
The findings come shortly after the Association for Financial Professionals (AFP) released its 2025 Fraud and Control Survey, which showed that 63% of organizations were targeted by BEC last year. AFP reiterated that BEC “remains a significant threat” to businesses across sectors.
To counter rising fraud, new Nacha Rules aimed at minimizing BEC attempts and improving post-fraud fund recovery will take effect in 2026.
Beyond BEC, IC3 received nearly 860,000 complaints in 2024. Phishing and spoofing topped the list with 193,407 reports, while ransomware ranked 20th with 3,156 cases. Despite this, FBI Operations Director B. Chad Yarbrough described ransomware as “the most pervasive threat to critical infrastructure.”
Cyber-enabled fraud overall accounted for 83% of all reported losses, amounting to $13.7 billion. This includes fast-growing scams such as fake “unpaid toll” demands, which drew more than 59,000 complaints.
Yarbrough noted the explosion in cybercrime reporting over time: IC3 once received about 2,000 complaints per month—today, it averages more than 2,000 per day.
See What’s Next in Tech With the Fast Forward Newsletter
Tweets From @varindiamag
Nothing to see here - yet
When they Tweet, their Tweets will show up here.
