Three benchmark reports
Europol — IOCTA 2026
The Internet Organised Crime Threat Assessment, published on April 28, 2026, is titled "how encryption, proxies and AI are growing cybercrime." It points to the persistence of ransomware (several groups active throughout 2025) and a growing overlap between hybrid state-linked threats and criminal actors, the latter sometimes acting as relays for destabilization operations.
ENISA — Threat Landscape 2025
The EU's cybersecurity agency observes increasingly diversified targeting of public administrations by structured groups — extending beyond central government institutions to diplomatic entities, ministries, law enforcement and political parties.
FBI — Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3), 2024 annual report
The FBI's complaint center logged 859,532 reports in 2024, totaling $16.6 billion in reported losses — up 33% year over year. New in 2026: the FBI introduced a dedicated "AI-related" descriptor in its complaint classification — more than 22,000 reports and nearly $900 million in losses counted under this category in its very first year.
What these reports have in common
Three different organizations, three different regions of the world — but the same conclusion: online fraud isn't slowing down, it's changing shape. Techniques are getting more sophisticated (encryption, proxies, AI per Europol), targets are diversifying (public administrations per ENISA), and the volume keeps climbing (+33% in reported losses to the FBI in a single year). That's exactly the thread running through The Threat Laboratory: each following report digs into one of these trends in detail.
Frequently asked questions
Who publishes reliable reports on the global state of scams?
Public bodies: Europol (IOCTA, its annual report on organized crime online), ENISA (the EU cybersecurity agency, Threat Landscape), and the FBI through its IC3 (Internet Crime Complaint Center) for the United States.
How much do online scams cost each year?
In the United States alone, the FBI recorded $16.6 billion in reported losses in 2024, across 859,532 complaints. See also the detailed breakdown of the average cost of a scam.
Has AI really changed the scale of scams?
Yes, according to Europol: the IOCTA 2026 report explicitly identifies AI, encryption and proxies as factors expanding cybercrime. The FBI even created a dedicated descriptor for AI-related complaints in 2026. See also the report on generative AI & voice deepfakes.
Other markets we cover
Europol, ENISA and the FBI cover the EU and the US. Here's what national fraud bodies report in four other major English-speaking markets — each running its own tally, but pointing the same direction.
🇦🇺Australia — AU$2.03 billion lost in 2024
The National Anti-Scam Centre's Targeting Scams report recorded AU$2.03 billion in losses reported to Scamwatch, ReportCyber, the Australian Financial Crimes Exchange, IDCARE and ASIC in 2024 — a 25.9% fall from 2023, credited partly to bank and platform intervention, even as investment scams alone still accounted for AU$945 million of the total.
National Anti-Scam Centre (ACCC), Targeting Scams report, March 2025.🇬🇧United Kingdom — £1.28 billion in payment fraud in 2025
UK Finance's Annual Fraud Report 2026 puts payment fraud losses across the UK banking sector at £1.28 billion for 2025, up 4% year over year, across more than four million reported cases — with the trade body pointing explicitly to organised groups using AI tools, including deepfakes and cloned voices, to bypass identity checks.
UK Finance, Annual Fraud Report 2026.🇨🇦Canada — over CA$643 million reported stolen in 2024
The Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre's 2024 Annual Statistical Report logged over CA$643 million in reported fraud losses, with investment scams alone accounting for close to half of that total — while the centre itself estimates reported cases capture only 5 to 10% of actual fraud, given how many victims never come forward.
Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre, 2024 Annual Statistical Report.🇮🇳India — over ₹22,845 crore lost in 2024
India's Home Affairs ministry told the Lok Sabha that citizens lost ₹22,845.73 crore (roughly $2.7 billion) to cyber fraud in 2024, per data from the I4C's National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal — up sharply from ₹7,465.18 crore the year before. Families with relatives working abroad are a frequent target of the same fraud networks; see our report on scams targeting diaspora families, and how Egidio's family plan (up to 4 devices, via Le Cercle) helps relatives keep each other covered across borders.
Business Standard, July 22, 2025, citing I4C/NCRP data presented to the Lok Sabha.Go further
Egidio — The Threat Laboratory, "Global Scam Report 2026", egidio.app/en/laboratoire/global-scam-report/. Licensed CC BY 4.0.
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