Agencies Returned $2.9B Against $18B Scam Losses

U.S. agencies returned about $2.9 billion to fraud victims last year while Americans reported nearly $18 billion in cyberfraud losses to the FBI. That gap comes from a Joint Economic Committee investigation released Tuesday by ranking Democrats Sen. Maggie Hassan and Rep. Don Beyer.

The report found no unified federal accounting of money seized from overseas scam compounds or returned to victims. The FBI returned $336 million in 2025. The Federal Trade Commission returned $1.83 billion in fiscal 2025 but could not say how much went to overseas scam compound losses. The Secret Service returned more than $770 million in fiscal years 2024 and 2025 from a range of fraud schemes. The State Department said foreign partners it supports seized proceeds in the low hundreds of millions of dollars and referred Congress to the Justice, Homeland Security and Treasury departments for details.

The report drew on a yearlong investigation into global scams by the Associated Press and FRONTLINE. "Transnational criminal organizations run massive compounds that exploit U.S. technology, including AI, to carry out scams against Americans with devastating consequences," Hassan said in an email. "The scale of this exponentially growing challenge requires Congress, the Administration, and the private sector to all strengthen their efforts." State Department cutbacks eliminated at least one anti-scam training program in Bangladesh, where the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime reported last month that scam operations are emerging as a hub. The State Department told the committee it has 60 employees in the U.S. and Asia who dedicate significant time to fighting overseas scam compounds and that it "has the tools it needs to combat the threat internationally."

The report urged Congress to pass pending legislation creating a unified federal strategy and a central place for victims to report losses. The White House has also pushed for greater federal coordination. Justice Department officials told Congress that private companies should focus more on prevention, but no federal rules require technology, telecommunications or financial firms to protect consumers from scams. The 27-nation European Union, the United Kingdom, Australia and Singapore have such requirements.

Kate Griffin, a director at the Aspen Institute's financial security program, said the United States still lacks "durable, sustainable scam prevention." "We don't see that showing up yet in reduced victimization," she said. "And that's what really needs to happen."

The FBI logged cyberfraud losses of nearly $18 billion last year, a rate of more than $2 million an hour. Many victims do not report the crime to authorities.