New Jersey residents are losing an estimated $3.1 billion annually to online scams, according to a sweeping new report that puts America’s true fraud losses at nearly $119 billion a year — roughly seven times what official figures suggest.

The findings come from the Consumer Federation of America’s new “scam economy” report, which argues that the FBI’s official 2024 loss figure of $16.6 billion captures only a fraction of the damage. Because only about 14 percent of scams are ever reported — victims often stay silent out of embarrassment or confusion — the real toll is vastly larger, the report says.

Nationally, that works out to roughly $349 in losses per American per year. In New Jersey, which ranks sixth in scam impact among all states, the per capita figure is $327. Officially, the state logged $434.8 million in reported losses in 2024, but the Consumer Federation estimates the true number is more than seven times that.

New Jersey is one of ten states that together account for half of all reported fraud nationwide. The others — California, Texas, Florida, New York, Illinois, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Arizona, and Washington — share common traits that make them attractive targets: major financial centers, large technology sectors, high concentrations of older residents, and significant accumulated wealth.

The report singles out Meta’s platforms as the most common doorways for scammers. According to Better Business Bureau data cited in the report, Facebook is linked to 57 percent of social media scams, Instagram to 22 percent, and WhatsApp to 8 percent. More broadly, the Global Anti-Scam Alliance found that 81 percent of scam attempts in the United States take place on platforms that allow direct messaging, and a recurring theme in the report is that even when scams are flagged, platforms do little to act on them.

Investment scams led all categories by a wide margin, accounting for an estimated $46.9 billion in losses. Business email compromise scams came in second at $19.8 billion, followed by tech support scams at $10.5 billion. Confidence scams cost Americans an estimated $4.8 billion, while government impersonation scams accounted for $2.9 billion.

Employment scams, real estate fraud, and credit card schemes rounded out the list.
The report also notes that 83 percent of all online cybercrime losses stem from scams specifically, with the remainder attributed to offenses like ransomware and malware.