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• U.S. consumers lost the most money last year by way of bank transfers and payments, with $2.09 billion disappearing through that form of payment, according to a report from the Federal Trade Commission that charted a record $12.5 billion in overall losses in 2024.

• The second-highest losses, by value, occurred when consumers were using cryptocurrency payments. Still, the instance of bank transfer and payments grew at a faster pace last year over 2023 than did the value of losses due to crypto, the March 10 FTC report showed.

• The highest number of reported cases of fraud occurred when consumers used credit cards, with 108,881 instances of fraud last year, according to the report, which detailed the various payment methods by which frauds occurred. The value of credit card fraud climbed to $275 million last year, up from 12% from $246.5 million in 2023.

The overall value of fraud losses jumped 25% last year over what was a record $10 billion in losses in 2023, the first year that such reported losses topped that milestone figure. Other reports suggest that the amount of actual losses is much higher because many instances of fraud go unreported.

The number of U.S. consumers who reported fraud last year actually fell by about three-quarters of one percent to 2.6 million, from 2.62 million in 2023, even as the value of those losses surged. Nonetheless, a higher percentage of consumers last year reported losing money as part of the fraud (38%) than was the case in 2023 (27%), the report said.

While the value of losses by way of bank transfer or payments rose about 12%, year-over-year, up from $1.86 billion in 2023, according to the report. That rate of increase outstripped the less than 1% increase in the value of losses due to cryptocurrency transactions, which increased slightly to $1.42 billion, from $1.41 billion.

Authorized push payments fraud, where consumers are tricked into sending payments to criminals, often by way of bank transfers, has been a rising problem, in contrast to bad actors finding ways to break into digital accounts and take money. The push-payment scams start with criminal schemes, such as in romance ploys, fake cybersecurity alerts or fictitious job offers.

Nonetheless, the incidence of reported bank transfer and payments cases declined by about 8% to 47,336 instances last year, down from 51,294, even as the value lost rose.

Companies in the payments sphere, including banks, tech titans or card networks, are increasingly seeking new ways to combat push-payment scams, including by sharing more data, increased engagement with law enforcement and better tracking of identities in the digital world. They’ve also begun to use artificial intelligence strategies, but the fraudsters are also harnessing AI tools.

Generally, the increase in losses could also be related to the rising number of ways that consumers are able to make payments, including via account-to-account bank transfers as well as digital wallets, peer-to-peer tools and cryptocurrencies. 

Fraud on payment apps and services overtook debit cards last year to become the second-highest payment method used for fraud, based on the instances reported by the FTC. Fraud on payment apps and services jumped almost 40% to 90,571 cases last year, up from 65,320 in 2023, the annual reports showed.

Zelle, operated by Early Warning Services, is one of the more popular P2P tools that allows for bank transfers. It has faced scrutiny from regulators and lawmakers in recent years. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau sued Early Warning Services and three of its major bank owners in December, but the federal agency dropped the lawsuit early this month after the Trump administration took over from the Biden administration.

Other forms of fraudulent payments tracked in the FTC report included those made by checks, gift cards and wire transfers.