Governments Have an Imposter Problem. What Can They Do?

New data from the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3), a division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), reveals that Internet-enabled government imposter scams have skyrocketed in the last couple of years, and victims are losing an unprecedented amount of money.

According to the latest numbers in the 2024 Internet Crime Report, the number of victims who reported scams from bogus government agencies to the FBI jumped by more than 50 percent from 11,554 in 2022 to 17,367 in 2024.
While victim counts have risen, the financial devastation is alarming. Total reported losses from government impersonation scams in the U.S. exploded from $12 million in 2015 to more than $405 million in 2024. That’s an increase of more than 3,200 percent in money lost to criminals in less than a decade.

The exponential growth indicates scammers are becoming more effective at convincing victims they really are government officials, and residents are handing over significant amounts of money.

While the IC3 data doesn't directly attribute specific losses to artificial intelligence, the massive escalation in financial impact coincides with the widespread public release of generative AI tools in late 2022 and early 2023. The ability of these technologies to create hyper-realistic voice, text and visual impersonations at scale likely provides scammers with the opportunity to develop more convincing and financially devastating deceptions.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the nation's primary consumer protection agency, tracks fraud more comprehensively, capturing all scams, including those that occur over the phone, in person and mail. New FTC data explains that while the number of fraud reports they’ve received remains stable, the percentage of people who have lost money to a scam rose from 27 percent in 2023 to 38 percent in 2024.

Additionally, imposter scams were the most commonly reported type of fraud in 2024, well outpacing any other kind of criminal deception throughout the year.
“The data we’re releasing today shows that scammers’ tactics are constantly evolving,” Christopher Mufarrige, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, said in a press release. “The FTC is monitoring those trends closely and working hard to protect the American people from fraud.”

TOP STATES FOR IMPOSTER SCAM VICTIMS

A Government Technology per capita analysis of 2024 IC3 data reveals a strong geographic trend: states across the Western and Mountain West regions are disproportionately affected. Alaska leads the nation in frequency of reported scams per capita, with nearly 28 reported government imposter victims per 100,000 residents. The state with the lowest number of victims per capita is Mississippi, with only three victims per 100,000 reporting a government imposter scam.
States like California and New York, which saw comparatively lower per capita victim rates, emerge at the top for average losses, suggesting that while fewer individuals may fall prey or report the scams, those who do are losing much more money than in other states.

While variations in the data may also reflect the likelihood of a community to report to the FBI they were contacted by a scammer, or even sent money to scammers, the difference in these two rankings (per capita victims versus average loss per victim) suggests some governments need to reduce the sheer number of victims while others need to prevent large, catastrophic losses. It’s also possible that in some cases victims may not have even realized they sent money to a criminal, rather than their local government agency.

WHICH GOVT. AGENCIES DO SCAMMERS IMPERSONATE?

DMVs

A common theme that appeared in 2024 was toll scams. Criminals claiming to represent state DMVs reached out to their victims via email or text message, asking them to send money for an unpaid toll. According to the IC3, in 2024 alone they received 59,271 complaints of toll scams, which resulted in a reported total of $129,624 lost.

Many state agencies warned their residents of the trend with messages, stressing the importance of contacting agencies directly to verify financial requests.
“The best way to protect yourself is to always use the DMV website or call our contact center to interact with us,” said California Department of Motor Vehicles Director Steve Gordon in a press release. “Remember that legitimate government agencies will rarely contact you by text for sensitive matters.”

COMPTROLLER AND TAX AGENCIES

In Texas, the Comptroller of Public Accounts alerted residents of a phishing scamwhere criminals are sending emails that look like a legitimate "response email" from the comptroller's office, prompting the recipient to download a file via a file-sharing service from such an agency.

The links in the email lead to malicious websites. In this case, scammers are incorporating trusted third-party brand names, such as Docusign, into phishing attempts.

COURT SYSTEMS AND LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES

In Connecticut, scammers are claiming to be court systems, using the real names of local judges or sheriff's departments gathered from the agencies' websites to contact victims with phone calls and email messages to notify the recipient that they failed to comply with jury duty, demanding payment in order to avoid fees, court appointments or even jail time.

"Scammers are taking advantage of the fear many people have that they will face serious consequences if they miss jury duty," said Department of Consumer Protection Commissioner Bryan T. Cafferelli. “All U.S. citizens over the age of 18 are eligible for jury duty and should take that responsibility seriously. But don’t let scammers take advantage of the importance of jury duty. Anyone with a phone or email should always be skeptical of unsolicited calls or messages, hang up or report the sender, and if you are unsure, contact the organization directly.”

HOW GOVERNMENTS CAN FIGHT SCAMS

Awareness campaigns are crucial; agencies can not only let residents know about scams, but also provide them with the necessary information about how to quickly verify any communication they receive from someone claiming to be with a public agency.

However, the traditional advice to "only trust emails from .gov addresses" has become problematic, as scammers can now spoof domains, like in a recent scam involving the Indiana Judicial Branch. Other vulnerabilities exist — in another recent case in Indiana, scammers sent out unpaid toll emails from a .gov email address. Officials from the Indiana Office of Technology told FOX59 in Indianapolis that a former contractor’s account was hacked, which was used to send the messages.

There are some technologies that may be able to help state and local governments prevent fraudsters from bilking their residents in their name. They can invest in email authentication protocols, technical standards designed to prove that an email legitimately comes from the domain it claims to be from. However, resource issues and the decentralization of many government entities make this challenging.

Another promising solution may be something many agencies have been working toward: secure digital government portals that provide a single, easily recognizable location for official notices, payments or document downloads. In their anti-fraud messaging, agencies can emphasize that official communications will always direct people there.

Ultimately, this increasing wave of government impersonation scams presents a critical challenge for public-sector technology and leadership. If residents are defrauded while attempting to pay for legitimate tolls, tickets or other government fees, it not only impacts individual citizens but also raises concerns about potential revenue shortfalls for public services, as well as potentially eroding trust in digital government interactions.