Study: 10,000+ North Carolinians lost $175M to internet scams in record year for US ripoffs

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK – More than 10,000 North Carolinians lost $175 million to internet scams in a record year for ripoffs across the U.S., a new study says.

“A record $10.3 billion was lost by Americans to online scams in 2022, up from $6.9 billion in 2021, and up 277% from $2.7 billion five years ago, according to the FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center,” reports internet data firm Social Catfish. ” The average loss per victim jumped from $8,142 per incident in 2021 to $12,859 last year.”

In North Carolina, the average loss cam in at $16,624 across 10,554 reported incidents.

Californians suffered most, losing more than $2 billion across 80,000 incidents at an average cost of nearly $25,000.

And few people recovered what they lost.

“Victims of online scams – whether it be investment, romance, cryptocurrency or others – often lose their life savings and some even take their own lives,” Social Catfish reports. “In our analysis we found that only 4.2% of lost monetary assets were recovered in 2022.”

This was the third study conducted by the firm.

“The purpose of this study is to offer a comprehensive and real time overview to equip people with the knowledge required to avoid becoming a victim,” the company says. “The mission of Social Catfish is to help eradicate online scams using reverse search technology.”

Highlights from the report

Methodology

• We analyzed data released in 2023 by the FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).

• We released proprietary survey results after polling 5,500 romance scam victims in June 2023. The respondents are members of the Social Catfish Facebook group SCF Seekers –  a place for victims who have been scammed out of money.

Key Findings of the State of Internet Scams 2022

1. Total Reported Money Lost: A record $10.3 billion was lost to online scams in 2022, up from $6.9 billion in 2021. The average loss per victim was $12,859 in 2022, up from $8,142 the previous year.

2. 81% of Romance Scam Victims Do Not Come Forward: 4,455 of 5,500 victims polled by Social Catfish said they were too ashamed to come forward and file a formal report with the FBI or FTC.
3. $200 Billion Estimated Actual Losses in 2022:  Given many online scam victims are too afraid to come forward, we estimate actual losses were closer to $200 billion in 2022.
4. Only 4.2% of Stolen Funds Were Recovered: The FBI IC3 Recovery Asset Team was only able to recover $433 million, or 4.2%, of the total $10.3 billion lost in 2022. The primary reason is most scams originate from outside the U.S. where law enforcement has no jurisdiction.
5. Teens & Children See Largest % Increase in Money Lost: In the last five years, money lost by Victims 20 and younger grew nearly 2,500% from 2017 to 2022 compared to 805% for seniors. Victims under 20 lost $8.2 million in 2017 compared to $210 million in 2022. Seniors remain by far the most victimized group overall losing $3.1 billion in 2022, but the surge of young victims speaks to the growing sophistication of scammers.

6. Apps Where Most People are Scammed: The Social Catfish poll of 5,500 online scam victims found most online scams happen on Facebook with 32%, Google Hangouts with 16%, WhatsApp with 16%, Instagram with 14%, and Plenty of Fish with 16%.
7. The Future of Online Scams has Arrived With Artificial Intelligence: The explosion of AI has given us a glimpse into the future of scams with new tactics such as ‘voice cloning’ and ‘deep fake’ videos making it look and sound like you are giving money to someone you know, trust or love. It is critical to remain vigilant against these extremely savvy scams.

States with the Most Online Scams 2022