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Deepak Gupta markThe Scam Atlas

The Scam Atlas

Every cyber scam, how it works, the real cases behind it, and what to do.

Just been scammed? What to do now · For security and IT teams

The scale: reported losses and estimates

Losses reported to the FBI IC3 in 2025$20.88BUS, 2025, FBI IC3
Fraud losses reported to the FTC in 2025$15.9BUS, 2025, FTC
Authorised push payment fraud losses in the UK in 2025£576.4MGB, 2025, UK Finance
Scam losses reported in Australia in 2025A$2.18BAU, 2025, ACCC
Scam losses across 42 countries, estimated from a survey of 46,000 individuals$442BGlobal, 2025, GASA

Scam families

  • 1. Investment and crypto fraud

    Scams that promise returns: fake trading platforms, pig butchering, pump groups, and crypto theft. The costliest category in every national dataset.

    9 scam types

  • 2. Relationship and trust

    Scams that build a relationship first, from romance and wrong-number texts to cloned voices of family members asking for urgent help.

    5 scam types

  • 3. Government and authority impersonation

    Scammers posing as tax agencies, police, courts, toll authorities, or senior officials to demand payment or personal data.

    7 scam types

  • 4. Brand and service impersonation

    Fake banks, tech support, delivery firms, and retailers that trick people into moving money, granting remote access, or handing over accounts.

    7 scam types

  • 5. Recovery and re-victimisation

    Second scams aimed at people who already lost money, offering to get it back for a fee.

    3 scam types

  • 6. Shopping and marketplace

    Fake stores, rentals, tickets, pets, travel, and charity appeals where the goods or the cause never existed.

    8 scam types

  • 7. Prize, fee, and payment tricks

    Pay a fee to unlock a prize, grant, loan, or inheritance, or send money back from a check that later bounces.

    5 scam types

  • 8. Jobs and income

    Fake jobs and recruiters that take deposits, launder money through victims, or deliver malware disguised as interview tasks.

    5 scam types

  • 9. Business payment fraud (BEC)

    Impersonating executives, suppliers, or employees to redirect business payments, now including deepfake video and voice.

    7 scam types

  • 10. Workforce and access social engineering

    Attacks that manipulate employees and help desks into handing over access: password resets, MFA fatigue, fake IT support, insider bribery, and fake hires.

    10 scam types

  • 11. Extortion and threats

    Threats to publish images or stolen data, or to cause harm, unless the victim pays.

    4 scam types

How scams reach people

Latest cases

All cases