Imposter Scams Cost Americans $3.5 Billion Last Year—Here's What You Need to Know

The FTC just released its fraud report for 2025, and one pattern stands out above the rest: imposter scams. People lost $3.5 billion to scammers pretending to be someone else—government agencies, banks, tech companies, family members. That's nearly three times what was lost in 2020. But understanding how these scams work is the best protection against them.

What exactly is an imposter scam?

An imposter scam happens when someone contacts you pretending to be someone trustworthy—a government agency, a bank, the IRS, a tech company, or even a family member in trouble. They create urgency and ask you to pay money or share personal information. The scammer might claim you owe taxes, that your account has been compromised, that you've won a prize, or that a grandchild needs emergency help.

What makes these scams effective is that they prey on real anxiety. You actually do owe taxes sometimes. Your accounts can actually be compromised. The scammer counts on you acting before you think.

How do scammers get your contact information?

Scammers use several methods. Sometimes they buy lists of phone numbers or email addresses from data brokers—companies that collect and sell personal information. Sometimes they use public records. Sometimes they simply guess email addresses or phone numbers. And sometimes they contact people completely at random, knowing that some will fall for it.

A breach like the one at Illuminate Education (which exposed millions of students' personal data) also puts information into scammers' hands. But most of the time, your contact info is available through ordinary channels.

What should I do if someone contacts me claiming to be from the government or a company?

Never provide payment information or personal details during an unsolicited call, email, or text. Instead, hang up or delete the message. Then contact the organization directly using a phone number or website you know is legitimate—not any contact information the caller provided. For example, if someone claims to be from the IRS, hang up and call the IRS directly using the number on irs.gov or a past tax return.

Legitimate government agencies do not threaten you with arrest, don't demand immediate payment, and don't ask for gift cards or wire transfers. If you see those red flags, it's a scam.

What happened to people who fell for mortgage and tax relief scams?

The FTC has been actively shutting down imposter operations that target homeowners and people with tax debt. Just this month, they've recovered nearly $13 million from people running mortgage relief schemes and tax relief schemes. These operations pretended to be affiliated with federal programs or government agencies, charged upfront fees for services they couldn't deliver, and disappeared with the money.

The good news is that the FTC recovers money when it can and returns it to victims. The better news is that knowing how these scams work makes you nearly impossible to fool.

You now have the information scammers rely on you not having. That confidence is your best defense.