Cybercrime statistics
Our online world is far from being a secure place. While technology offers countless benefits and conveniences, it also exposes us to a growing number of cyberthreats. Cybercrimes such as phishing attacks, identity theft, payment fraud, and other malicious activities have become increasingly common. Complaints are filed daily, and cybercriminals remain active — making anyone a potential target.
When individuals act carelessly online, they unintentionally provide cybercriminals with more opportunities to exploit their information. Billions of personal records have been leaked worldwide, with the United States being the most affected country. According to data breach statistics, more than 2 billion user accounts have been compromised in the United States alone over this decade.
This enables malicious actors to operate with greater precision and impact. The statistics below illustrate how severely Americans across different states have been affected by cybercrime.
Throughout this decade, Americans have filed more than 4 million cybercrime complaints, with reported losses exceeding $50 billion, according to data from the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3), operated by the FBI.
Nevada ranks as the most insecure state out of the 50 analyzed. This ranking is derived from a combination of two key metrics into a final score for each state. The first metric, vulnerability, is measured by the number of complaints received per 100,000 internet users. The second metric, severity, is assessed by the average loss reported per complaint. Both metrics are normalized and equally weighted in the calculation of the final score, providing a balanced view of each state's cybercrime situation.
Following Nevada in the top five are California, New York, North Dakota, and Alaska.
Nevada's total score of 0.605 was heavily influenced by its vulnerability score of 0.475, highlighting its position as one of the most impacted states based on the number of complaints per 100,000 internet users. Over the five-year period, more than 63,500 complaints were filed in this state, equivalent to a rate of over 2,600 complaints per 100,000 internet users. Only Alaska, which ranked first in vulnerability, surpassed Nevada with a rate of over 2,700 complaints per 100,000 internet users. Nevada, however, held the top position in this category for three consecutive years, from 2020 to 2022. In the last two years, Alaska overtook Nevada, with a particularly sharp increase in 2024.
When it comes to the average loss per complaint, Nevada has shown a clear upward trend — rising from nearly $3,000 in 2020 to over $25,000 in 2024. This represents more than a ninefold increase. Its severity score stands at 0.130, with an average loss per complaint exceeding $11,000 throughout this decade. However, North Dakota leads all states in severity, with an average loss per complaint exceeding $25,000, more than double Nevada’s decade-long average.
Not all types of cybercrime have been equally frequent or equally costly. From 2020 to 2022, identity theft consistently ranked as the leading cybercrime in terms of complaints filed. This crime involves someone wrongfully obtaining and using personally identifiable information through fraud or deception, typically for economic gain. Between 2020 and 2024, Nevada recorded over 20,000 complaints of identity theft. But the focus shifted in later years, with personal data breaches emerging as the most prevalent cybercrime in 2023, followed by extortion in 2024.
In 2024, most states experienced their highest levels of cybercrime-related financial loss or incident reports of the decade. According to the data, 88% of states (44 out of 50) recorded their highest number of cybercrime complaints in 2024, while 76% (38 states) reported their largest financial losses that same year. However, not all states followed this trend — a few reached their decade highs in earlier years.
Number of complaints:
- South Carolina peaked in 2023;
- South Dakota in 2022;
- Nevada and Kentucky in 2021;
- Iowa and Rhode Island in 2020.
Financial loss:
- New Jersey, Indiana, Utah, Kansas, Alaska, Rhode Island, and Montana peaked in 2023;
- Alabama, Delaware, Vermont, and South Dakota in 2022;
- North Dakota in 2020.
Cybercrime costs are steadily rising in the US. Since 2020, financial losses have more than doubled — increasing from $788,000 to over $1.9 million lost per hour. Meanwhile, the number of complaints has remained around $95 per hour.
Since 2020, Americans over 60 have filed more than half a million cybercrime complaints — accounting for nearly a quarter of all complaints with known age data. While the 30–39 age group briefly stood out in 2022, older adults have consistently been the most frequently affected every other year. The trend suggests that those with more to lose — and perhaps less cybersecurity awareness — are frequent targets of cybercrime.
Nevada shows a slightly different pattern. Residents aged 40–49 have filed the most cybercrime complaints over the past decade, with nearly 13,000 reports. Yet, those over 60 have faced the largest financial losses, exceeding $200 million. These losses represent nearly 36% of the state’s total, based on complaints that included an associated age range.