NewsDialy
Imposter scams — fraud in which criminals pose as a trusted person or institution to extract money from victims — topped all categories of fraud reported to the Federal Trade Commission for the fifth consecutive year in 2025, generating $3.5 billion in losses.
The figure lands inside a broader $15.9 billion total fraud loss count that the FTC recorded for the year, making imposter schemes among the most financially damaging forms of consumer deception the agency tracks.
What an Imposter Scam Is and Why It Works The mechanics of an imposter scam are straightforward: a fraudster borrows the identity of an authority the target has reason to trust — a government agency, a bank, a utility, a technology company — and uses that manufactured credibility to lower the victim's defenses.
Once a target believes they are dealing with a legitimate institution, the psychological barrier to transferring money or surrendering sensitive information collapses.
Keep reading