FBI: Cybercrime losses topped $20.8B in 2025, real estate fraud hit $275M

The FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) received 1,008,597 complaints of cyber-enabled crime in 2025, with reported losses surpassing $20.8 billion — a 26% increase from the previous year.

Real estate fraud alone accounted for 12,368 complaints and $275.1 million in losses, showing a continued and growing threat for housing professionals and their clients.

Business email compromises — a scheme frequently targeting home closings and wire transfers — ranked second in total losses at $3.04 billion across 24,768 complaints.

Criminals are rapidly adopting artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the credibility of their schemes. And IC3 received more than 22,000 complaints referencing AI in 2025, with adjusted losses exceeding $893 million.

“Chat generators can quickly create official-sounding emails mimicking a company’s CEO or other officials,” the report explained. “These emails can contain phishing links or directions to wire funds. Voice cloning can also be used to request wire payment.”

Investment scams — many leveraging AI-generated videos and deepfake endorsements from celebrities or trusted figures — produced the largest share of losses at $8.64 billion.

Confidence and romance scams, which often lead victims to liquidate assets or tap retirement funds, resulted in $929 million in losses.

Elder fraud a growing crisis

Complainants ages 60 and older filed 201,266 reports in 2025 — a 37% increase from 2024 — with losses of $7.75 billion, up 59% year over year.

More than 12,400 seniors reported losing at least $100,000 each.

Cryptocurrency remained the transaction method of choice for fraudsters. The report recorded 181,565 complaints with a crypto nexus — a 21% increase — and $11.36 billion in losses.

Scams often begin through text messages or dating apps before moving to encrypted messaging platforms.

The FBI’s Operation Level Up — launched in January 2024 to identify crypto investment fraud victims — has reportedly prevented more than $500 million in potential losses.

In 2025 alone, the operation notified 3,780 victims, and 78% were unaware they were being scammed.

“(The program) stopped a victim from cashing out $750,000 from his 401K,” the report states. (It also) stopped a victim from selling her house to invest $500,000.”

Protecting real estate transactions

For real estate agents and brokers, the IC3’s Financial Fraud Kill Chain offers a critical lifeline.

The recovery team initiated 3,900 incidents in 2025, freezing $679 million of $1.16 billion in attempted thefts — a 58% success rate.

One case detailed in the report involved a Missouri senior citizen attempting to close on a property.

The victim received a compromised email from a fraudulent title company with wire instructions for more than $1.3 million. The FBI froze the recipient’s account and later discovered the same account was targeted by a city government office in Oregon for a separate $6 million wire — which was also stopped.

The FBI urges anyone who discovers a fraudulent transfer to contact their financial institution immediately and file a complaint at ic3.gov. 

This article was written by Jonathan Delozier and generated with the assistance of HousingWire Automation. It was reviewed by a HousingWire editor before publication. The system helps convert company announcements and industry data into HousingWire-style news coverage.