For the last two years, nearly every investing headline has been about the same handful of things.
Artificial intelligence. Interest rates. The next big rally.
Almost nobody has been writing about what the FBI found when it tallied up 2025.
That’s starting to change.
Part One: What the Numbers Say
Every year, the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) publishes a count of the crimes Americans report online.
The 2025 edition came out in April 2026. It contains one number every investor should see.
$8.65 billion.
That’s how much Americans reported losing to investment scams in 2025. It’s the costliest type of internet crime the FBI tracks. And it’s nearly double the $4.57 billion reported just two years earlier.
The Federal Trade Commission’s separate data points the same way. The FTC says consumers reported $7.9 billion in investment scam losses in 2025. That’s nearly half of the $15.9 billion Americans reported losing to fraud of every kind.
Here’s the catch.
Those are only the losses people reported. The FTC itself says reported losses are just a fraction of what Americans actually lose.
Older Americans have taken the hardest hit. Investment fraud losses reported by people 60 and over reached $3.52 billion in 2025. That’s up from $1.83 billion in 2024 and $1.24 billion in 2023. Nearly triple in two years.
And 12,444 older Americans reported losing more than $100,000 to fraud of all types last year.
Part Two: Why It’s Happening Now
Here’s what most investors miss.
The old warning signs don’t fit anymore.
A generation ago, investment fraud meant a cold call from a stranger with a hot tip. Today it shows up in places that feel personal.
A text from an unknown number. A friendly message on social media. A free invitation to an “investment club” in a private chat group. A video of a well-known executive that was never real.
State securities regulators say the same thing. In a 2025 survey, they reported spending the most time on scams that reach investors through social platforms such as Facebook and X (31.7%) and through messaging apps such as Telegram and WhatsApp (31.3%).
The FTC says social media was the top contact method by reported losses in 2025, with more than $2 billion lost to scams that started there.
Then there’s crypto. Of the $8.65 billion in investment fraud losses, about $7.3 billion had a cryptocurrency connection.
And for the first time in its history, the IC3 report includes a section on artificial intelligence. It counts 22,364 complaints with AI-related information, with reported losses of about $893 million. Investment complaints with an AI connection accounted for more than $632 million of that.
The FBI adds a warning of its own. Many victims, it says, don’t realize how much AI may have been involved in the scam that reached them.
The tools changed. The playbook didn’t.
Which brings us to the five schemes.
Part Three: Five Schemes and How to Spot Them
Scam #1: The Fake Crypto Platform
You may have heard it called “pig butchering.” It’s a term borrowed from a Chinese phrase for the long con: build trust first, take the money later.
The FBI calls it a sophisticated, long-running scheme built on psychological manipulation and the appearance of legitimacy.
It usually starts with a text, a social media message, an ad or a dating app. Sometimes it’s a “wrong number.” The conversation then moves quickly to a private messaging app.
From there, victims are often introduced to an “investment group” run by supposed insiders offering guidance on trading crypto or gold.
They’re steered to a fake trading platform or app. It shows impressive profits that don’t exist. Victims may even be offered loans to deposit more.
Then comes the withdrawal. That’s when they’re told they owe taxes and fees.
After that, the scammers disappear with everything.
What the numbers say:
IC3 received 61,559 crypto investment fraud complaints in 2025, with reported losses of $7.228 billion. That’s a 48% jump in complaints and a 25% jump in losses from 2024.
People 60 and over filed 13,685 of those complaints, with about $2.76 billion in reported losses.
The FBI says many of these operations are run by organized criminal groups in Southeast Asia that use trafficking victims as forced labor.
And one more figure stands out.
Through a program called Operation Level Up, the FBI contacted 3,780 crypto investment fraud victims in 2025. 78% of them did not know they were being scammed.
The FBI says the program stopped one victim from cashing out $750,000 from a 401(k) and another from selling her house to invest $500,000.
Red flags:
- A stranger reaches out, then moves the chat to WhatsApp, Telegram or a similar app
- A new online friend or romantic interest starts talking about investing
- A small first deposit shows quick gains on a platform you can’t verify anywhere else
- You’re told to pay “taxes” or “fees” before you can withdraw
- You’re encouraged to borrow money or cash out retirement savings to deposit more
What to do: Stop sending money. Don’t pay a withdrawal fee. Save every screenshot, wallet address and message. Call your bank right away, then report it at ic3.gov and ReportFraud.ftc.gov.
Scam #2: The “Investment Club” and the Ramp-and-Dump
In July 2025, the FBI put out a public warning about a scheme it calls “ramp-and-dump” stock manipulation.
It starts with a social media ad or an unsolicited message inviting you to join an “investment club.” Some of the other members may be bots or fake accounts.
Meanwhile, the people running the club secretly control a large volume of a low-priced stock.
Over weeks or months, they encourage members to buy it. The price climbs. Then they sell their own shares into the demand.
The price falls. Members are left holding the shares.
FINRA, the securities industry’s self-regulator, says it has seen a significant spike in complaints about these groups since the fall of 2023. It says bad actors pose as registered investment professionals, advertise “stock investment groups” on social media, then move people into encrypted chats such as WhatsApp to pitch stocks.
What the numbers say:
As of its July alert, the FBI had seen at least a 300% increase in 2025 complaints mentioning ramp-and-dump stock fraud versus 2024.
IC3’s full-year report counts about 1,600 investment club complaints with roughly $160 million in reported losses.
In March 2025, federal law enforcement in Chicago announced charges against seven people and the seizure of $214 million in connection with an alleged ramp-and-dump scheme. Investigators said people in China posed as U.S. investment advisors on social media.
Red flags:
- An “accidental” text or social media ad links you to a private investment group
- You’ve been added to a WhatsApp, Telegram or Discord group you didn’t ask to join
- The group keeps pushing one thinly traded, low-priced stock
- Admins promise outsized returns or pressure you to buy fast
- The stock has a small market cap and limited public float, which FINRA calls a red flag
When a stock is caught up in a scheme like this, you may find you can’t sell your shares at all.
What to do: Don’t act on stock tips from groups you didn’t seek out. Look up the person on FINRA BrokerCheck or the SEC’s adviser search, and use the contact details from those official records, not from the chat profile.
Scam #3: The Imposter Adviser
Here’s one that should make every investor pause.
The FBI and the SEC have warned about scammers who impersonate real investment professionals and firms.
They build fake websites using a real person’s photo, logo or likeness. They copy real details from public databases, such as registration numbers and employment history.
Some even encourage you to research the person they’re impersonating.
Technology makes it easier. Authorities say these scammers may use voice-changing apps, AI-generated content, altered photos, deepfake video and cloned voices.
The SEC, state regulators and FINRA have jointly warned investors about unregistered platforms claiming to use AI, companies making exaggerated claims about AI-driven profits, and deepfake video and audio used to deceive investors.
What the numbers say:
The FBI says investment clubs have used AI-generated videos and voices of celebrities, CEOs and other trusted figures to make fraudulent opportunities look real.
In 2025, investment complaints with an AI connection reported more than $632 million in losses.
Red flags:
- A “proprietary” AI trading system that promises steady profits
- A celebrity or CEO video endorsement you can only find in an ad or on social media
- An unexpected call or message from your own adviser asking you to move money
- A website that looks like a real firm’s, but at a slightly different address
- Pressure to move fast, keep it secret or pay in crypto
State securities regulators advise investors to consider whether an unexpected message from their own adviser could be an AI deepfake.
What to do: Verify independently. Hang up and call the firm using a number from an official source. Check registration and disciplinary history on BrokerCheck or the SEC’s adviser database. Treat any video or voice message as unverified until you’ve confirmed it another way.
Scam #4: Ponzi and Affinity Fraud
This one is as old as Wall Street itself.
In a Ponzi scheme, earlier investors get paid “returns” with money from newer investors. Not from real profits.
It works only as long as new money keeps coming in.
Affinity fraud adds a twist. It targets a group bound by trust, such as a religious or ethnic community, a professional group or older adults. The fraudster uses that trust to spread the pitch.
The two often overlap.
In September 2026, the SEC charged a New Jersey man and two companies he controls in an alleged Ponzi scheme that ran from at least January 2020 to at least March 2026. The SEC alleges he raised about $16 million from more than 200 inexperienced investors by promising guaranteed fixed returns from a low-risk strategy. It further alleges he used about $6.6 million to make Ponzi-style payments to earlier investors. These are allegations in a complaint.
What the numbers say:
The FBI’s own definition of investment fraud explicitly includes retirement and 401(k) schemes along with Ponzi and pyramid schemes.
State regulators’ latest list of top investor threats opens with affinity and “pig butchering” schemes.
And remember the older-American figure from Part One. Investment fraud losses reported by people 60 and over hit $3.52 billion in 2025.
Red flags:
- Guaranteed returns, or high returns with “little or no risk”
- Unusually steady results that never seem to move with the market
- A seller or an investment that isn’t registered
- A pitch that spreads through your church, club, community or family circle
- Trouble getting your money out when you ask
What to do: Ask for the registration of both the seller and the investment. Check them with your state securities regulator or the SEC’s investor.gov. Be most careful when the pitch comes from someone you trust. That’s exactly what the scheme counts on.
Scam #5: The Recovery Scam
This may be the cruelest of the five.
You lose money to a scam. Then someone shows up and says, “We can get it back.”
The FBI warns that these recovery scams re-victimize people who’ve already been scammed. The offers can come from fictitious law firms, “crypto tracing” companies, or people claiming to be from the FBI or IC3.
The FBI has issued public warnings about scammers impersonating IC3 itself, and about fictitious law firms that target cryptocurrency scam victims while offering to recover their funds.
The FBI also says private recovery companies can’t issue seizure orders to recover cryptocurrency. And it says law enforcement does not charge victims a fee to investigate a crime.
What the numbers say:
IC3 received 10,516 recovery scam complaints in 2025, with reported losses of $1.4 billion. The FBI notes those losses may include money lost to the original scam that led the victim to the recovery firm.
People 60 and over filed 2,529 of those complaints, reporting about $540 million.
Red flags:
- Someone contacts you first and offers to recover your funds
- You’re asked for an upfront fee, a “tax” or a “clearance charge”
- The person claims ties to the FBI, SEC or another agency, but reaches you through social media or a messaging app
- You’re sent to a complaint website you found through a message, an ad or a video
What to do: Move fast. The real help is free.
In 2025, the FBI’s Recovery Asset Team worked 3,900 fund-freeze incidents involving about $1.16 billion in attempted theft. It was able to freeze roughly $679 million, a 58% success rate.
If you discover a fraudulent transfer, contact your bank immediately and ask for a recall. Then file a complaint at ic3.gov with full transaction details. You can also report at ReportFraud.ftc.gov. Neither charges a fee.
Your Quick Verification Checklist
Here’s the short version. Run every unfamiliar investment pitch through these eight checks.
- Unsolicited means unverified. Treat any tip that arrives by text, DM, ad or group invite as unproven until you’ve checked it.
- Check registration first. Look up the person and the firm on FINRA BrokerCheck, the SEC’s adviser database or your state regulator.
- Use official contact details. Get phone numbers and addresses from official records, never from the message that reached you.
- Be wary of “guaranteed.” Guaranteed returns and “no risk” are classic warning signs.
- Never pay to withdraw. Real platforms don’t demand a surprise tax or fee before releasing your own money.
- Don’t fund a deposit from retirement savings or borrowed money on the strength of an online relationship or a chat group.
- Take a beat. The FBI’s own advice is to resist pressure to act quickly. A real opportunity will still be there after you verify.
- Report fast. Call your bank, then ic3.gov and ReportFraud.ftc.gov. Time matters.
Where to Verify and Report
- Check a broker or adviser: FINRA BrokerCheck (brokercheck.finra.org) and the SEC’s adviser search (adviserinfo.sec.gov). The SEC’s investor education site is investor.gov.
- Find your state securities regulator: nasaa.org
- Report fraud: FBI IC3 (ic3.gov) and the FTC (ReportFraud.ftc.gov)
Important Risk Disclosure
This report is provided for informational and educational purposes only. It is not personalized investment, legal or tax advice, and it does not recommend any security, product or service.
Investing involves risk, including the possible loss of your entire principal. Nothing in this report guarantees any outcome.
Loss figures come from complaints that victims chose to report to the FBI and the FTC. Actual losses are likely higher. Figures are current as of October 22, 2026 and are subject to change as agencies update their data. Descriptions of SEC cases reflect allegations in a complaint unless a court has ruled otherwise.
Wall Street Watchdogs is not a registered investment adviser. Before making any investment decision, do your own research and consider speaking with a licensed financial professional.
