Federal Reserve survey highlights payment-scam recovery gap

A Federal Reserve survey published in May 2026 estimates that U.S. consumers bore about $56 billion in net losses from non-credit-card fraud in 2025, after accounting for money that respondents said was recovered. The findings also show that recovery outcomes varied by payment method.

The estimate comes from the Federal Reserve’s annual Survey of Household Economics and Decisionmaking, which was fielded online from October 17 through October 28, 2025. It is a survey-based estimate, not an administrative count of every scam or a precise ledger of all consumer losses.

One in five adults reported fraud or a scam

Twenty percent of adults said they experienced financial fraud or a scam involving their money in 2025. Sixteen percent reported credit-card fraud, while 8% reported another type of financial fraud. Some respondents may have experienced both.

Among adults who experienced non-credit-card fraud, 65% lost money. Thirty-five percent said at least some of the money was not recovered. The Federal Reserve estimated total non-credit-card fraud at $100 billion in 2025. Respondents reported recovering $44 billion, producing an estimated $56 billion in net consumer losses after recovery.

The figure should not be treated as a precise nationwide administrative total. The report says respondents were asked about their most recent fraud experience, so people who experienced multiple incidents may have had additional losses that were not captured in the estimate.

Recovery rights and procedures can also differ depending on what happened. An unauthorized transaction, a payment a consumer was tricked into authorizing, and a disputed transaction may not receive the same treatment from a bank or payment provider.

Payment method was associated with different recovery outcomes

Among reported non-credit-card fraud incidents, debit cards appeared in 41%, peer-to-peer payment services in 29%, bank wires or other electronic transfers in 13%, and cryptocurrency in 9%. Respondents could select more than one payment method, so the percentages do not add up to 100%.

The Federal Reserve found that about 52% of people whose fraud involved a peer-to-peer payment service lost money that was not recovered. The figure was nearly 40% for people whose fraud involved a bank wire or other electronic transfer and 31% for those whose fraud involved a debit card.

Median losses after recovery also differed. The median was $0 for debit-card fraud, $200 for peer-to-peer payments, $100 for bank wires or other electronic transfers, and $900 for cryptocurrency. These comparisons show an association between payment method and recovery outcomes; they do not establish one cause for the differences. The survey also notes that respondents who selected multiple payment methods may have had losses involving a combination of methods.

The Federal Reserve’s examples of peer-to-peer services included Zelle, PayPal, Venmo, Cash App and Apple Cash. The findings do not mean that every transaction on one of those services receives the same legal protection, or that debit-card transactions guarantee full recovery.

What consumers should do after a scam

Act quickly. Contact the bank, payment app or transfer provider through its official app, website or published phone number. Ask whether the payment can be stopped, reversed or investigated. Do not use a phone number, link or caller-ID information supplied by the person who requested the money.

Change passwords connected to the account, enable multifactor authentication or a PIN, review linked accounts and monitor statements for additional unauthorized activity. Save transaction records, messages, screenshots, phone numbers and confirmation numbers before blocking or deleting contacts.

The Federal Trade Commission’s consumer guidance also advises reporting scams at ReportFraud.ftc.gov, even when recovery is uncertain. Complaints can help authorities identify patterns and investigate schemes.

FTC complaint data provide separate context. The agency said people reported about $16 billion in fraud losses across categories in 2025, including $3.5 billion from imposter scams. Those figures reflect losses reported to the FTC and are not directly comparable with the Federal Reserve’s survey-based estimate.

About 68% of adults who experienced non-credit-card fraud told the Federal Reserve they communicated with their bank or financial-services company for help. That finding underscores the practical point: reporting the incident promptly and preserving records may give a provider more time to investigate or attempt recovery, but it does not guarantee that money will be returned.

Sources

• Federal Reserve banking findings from the 2025 household survey
• FTC 2025 imposter-scam loss data
• FTC guidance on mobile-payment-app scams