Cybercrime Is Costing Americans Billions – Congress Must Act

For three decades, I have watched cyber threats evolve from relatively unsophisticated hacking attempts into highly organized criminal enterprises capable of targeting millions of Americans simultaneously. Today, artificial intelligence, cryptocurrency and social media have given criminals powerful new tools. The consequences are no longer confined to compromised computers or stolen passwords. They include depleted retirement accounts, shuttered small businesses and families losing their financial security. The latest federal data make the urgency unmistakable.

The FBI’s 2025 Internet Crime Report, released in April 2026, documented more than 1 million complaints and nearly $21 billion in reported losses from cyber-enabled crime. Americans over 60 reported approximately $7.7 billion in losses, a 37% increase from 2024. Meanwhile, the Federal Trade Commission reported that consumers lost $15.9 billion to fraud in 2025, approximately 25% more than the previous year. These figures measure different categories of reported crime and should not be added together, but both reveal the extraordinary scale of the problem.

Criminals are also exploiting the platforms Americans use every day. The FTC found that consumers reported losing $2.1 billion to scams originating on social media in 2025—eight times the reported losses in 2020. Nearly 30% of people reporting scam losses said the fraud began on social media. Fraudulent investment opportunities, fake shopping advertisements and romance scams are increasingly difficult to distinguish from legitimate interactions. Artificial intelligence makes impersonation more convincing, allowing criminals to mimic trusted voices, businesses and institutions.

The human consequences are especially troubling. Older Americans can lose decades of retirement savings in a single sophisticated scam. People with limited digital literacy, individuals with disabilities, immigrant communities and financially vulnerable families may face additional barriers to recognizing fraud or recovering their losses. Shame and confusion often discourage victims from reporting what happened. And when stolen funds cannot be recovered, the financial damage can become a long-term crisis.

Small businesses face a different but equally serious threat. The United States has approximately 34.8 million small businesses, including millions of independent operators with limited resources for cybersecurity. A fraudulent invoice, compromised email account or ransomware attack can interrupt operations, expose customer information and threaten a company’s survival. Unlike large corporations, many small firms lack dedicated security teams and the financial reserves needed to withstand a major incident.

Education and personal vigilance remain essential, but they are not enough. Criminal networks operate across state and national borders, while responsibility for prevention, enforcement and victim assistance remains distributed across multiple agencies and industries. Consumers cannot reasonably be expected to defend themselves against every increasingly sophisticated threat alone.

Congress must make combating cyber-enabled fraud a bipartisan priority in the 2027 legislative session. Republicans and Democrats should work together on a practical framework that strengthens coordination among federal, state and local law enforcement; improves information sharing; equips small businesses with accessible cybersecurity resources; and expands public education and support for victims. Lawmakers should also prioritize solutions that go after the bad actors behind these crimes. The most effective protections are the ones that stop a scam before it happens. Shifting blame after the fact does nothing to protect the next victim.

This is not a partisan issue. It is a matter of public safety, economic security and trust in America’s digital economy. Effective legislation must protect consumers while preserving innovation, competition and individual freedom.

After 30 years in cybersecurity, I know that no single law can eliminate every threat. But thoughtful, bipartisan action can make it harder for criminals to succeed, easier for law enforcement to intervene and less devastating when Americans become victims. The question is not whether cybercrime will continue to evolve. It will. The question is whether Congress will act together to ensure that American families, small businesses and vulnerable communities are better protected in the years ahead.