Probability of Being a Cybercrime Victim (Annual)
1 in 71 (1.4%)
Annual probability in US
About 1.4% of Americans report being cybercrime victims to the FBI's IC3 each year, though the real rate is likely much higher due to underreporting.
The FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) received over 880,000 complaints in 2023, with reported losses exceeding $12.5 billion. This translates to approximately 1.4% of American adults filing a cybercrime complaint, though the actual victimization rate is believed to be many times higher due to underreporting.
The most common types of cybercrime include phishing/spoofing, personal data breaches, non-payment/non-delivery scams, extortion, and tech support fraud. Business Email Compromise (BEC) schemes cause the highest financial losses per incident. Americans over 60 suffer the greatest total losses, while younger adults report the highest number of incidents.
Protection strategies include using strong unique passwords with a password manager, enabling multi-factor authentication on all accounts, being skeptical of unexpected emails and phone calls (even if they appear legitimate), keeping software updated, using reputable antivirus software, not clicking suspicious links, verifying requests for money or information through a separate communication channel, and monitoring financial accounts regularly. If victimized, report to IC3 at ic3.gov.
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