Artificial intelligence is rapidly becoming a tool for cybercriminals, leading to significant financial losses worldwide. The Federal Bureau of Investigation's 2025 Internet Crime Report highlights that AI-enabled cybercrime alone caused over $893 million in damages.

The report, compiled by the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3), indicates that AI is being leveraged to generate highly convincing synthetic content. This includes fake social media profiles, voice recordings, and video materials, making it increasingly difficult to detect and easier for malicious actors to conduct fraud.

In 2025, the IC3 received 22,364 complaints specifically linked to AI-related cybercrime activities. The adjusted losses from these complaints exceeded $893,346,472.

Globally, total cybercrime losses in 2025 surged past $20 billion. Investment scams remained the largest contributor to these losses, followed by business email compromise and tech support fraud. The FBI noted that reporting to IC3 has grown substantially, with the center now receiving nearly 3,000 complaints daily from over 200 countries, contributing to approximately $1.6 billion in losses linked to international cybercrime.

Nigeria was among the countries with the highest number of cybercrime complaints, reporting 1,219 cases in 2025. This places Nigeria in the top 20 countries listed in the report.

The report detailed several methods AI is being used in cybercrime:

• Fraudsters are using AI chat generators to create official-looking emails that impersonate company executives, often demanding urgent payments. Voice cloning is also employed to mimic senior officials. Businesses reported over $30 million in losses from AI-linked Business Email Compromise (BEC) scams in 2025.
• AI-generated profiles and scripts are used to build trust with victims. Losses from these types of scams exceeded $19 million.
• "Distress scams," which involve voice cloning of family members, accounted for over $5 million in losses.
• AI is used to simulate conversations, generate fake endorsements from celebrities or executives, and create realistic promotional content. Losses from AI-linked investment scams were the largest share of AI-related fraud, exceeding $632 million.
• Fraudsters are employing AI voice spoofing and deepfake technology during online interviews to gain access to corporate systems. Victims reported nearly $13 million in losses from such schemes.

The FBI also mentioned that initiatives like Operation Level Up have helped reduce potential losses from crypto-related scams by over $500 million since 2024.

While the focus is on AI-driven crime, overall investment scam losses, including those not explicitly identified as AI-driven, surpassed $8 billion in 2025. The FBI's report underscores the growing sophistication of cyber threats and the critical need for enhanced cybersecurity measures, particularly as AI capabilities advance.