--- title: "Payment fraud statistics 2026: BEC losses, vendor fraud and wire fraud data" description: "Verified payment fraud statistics for 2026: FBI IC3 business email compromise losses ($3.0B in 2025), AFP survey data on payments fraud, BEC and vendor imposter fraud. Free CSV, free to cite." url: https://realpayee.com/payment-fraud-statistics canonical: https://realpayee.com/payment-fraud-statistics date_published: 2026-10-05 date_modified: 2026-10-05 author: RealPayee --- # Payment fraud statistics 2026 > US businesses reported about **$3.0 billion** in business email compromise (BEC) losses to the FBI in 2025, across 24,768 complaints, up from $2.77 billion in 2024. In the AFP 2026 survey, **76%** of organizations faced attempted or actual payments fraud in 2025 and **74%** were hit by BEC, up from 63%. Only 17% use AI against it. _Published 2026-10-05 · Updated 2026-10-05 · By RealPayee_ ## Key takeaways - BEC losses reported to the FBI: about $3.0B in 2025, up from $2.77B in 2024. - BEC complaints: 24,768 in 2025, up from 21,442 in 2024. - 76% of US organizations faced attempted or actual payments fraud in 2025 (AFP). - 74% were affected by BEC in 2025, up from 63% (AFP). - Only 17% of organizations use AI against payments fraud (AFP). Download: https://realpayee.com/payment-fraud-statistics/data.csv (CSV) ## Key payment fraud statistics | Statistic | Value | Data year | Source | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Reported business email compromise (BEC) losses, US | **$3.046 billion (about $3.0B)** | 2025 | [IC3 2025 Internet Crime Report](https://www.mcdonaldhopkins.com/insights/news/the-sobering-truth-of-the-fbis-2025-internet-crime-complaint-center-report) | | BEC complaints received by IC3 | **24,768** | 2025 | [IC3 2025 Internet Crime Report](https://www.mcdonaldhopkins.com/insights/news/the-sobering-truth-of-the-fbis-2025-internet-crime-complaint-center-report) | | Total reported losses from cyber-enabled crime | **$20.877 billion** | 2025 | [IC3 2025 Internet Crime Report](https://www.mcdonaldhopkins.com/insights/news/the-sobering-truth-of-the-fbis-2025-internet-crime-complaint-center-report) | | BEC losses with a confirmed AI nexus | **Over $30 million** | 2025 | [IC3 2025 Internet Crime Report](https://www.mcdonaldhopkins.com/insights/news/the-sobering-truth-of-the-fbis-2025-internet-crime-complaint-center-report) | | Reported business email compromise (BEC) losses, US | **$2.77 billion** | 2024 | [IC3 2024 Internet Crime Report](https://www.nacha.org/news/fbis-ic3-finds-almost-85-billion-lost-business-email-compromise-last-three-years) | | BEC complaints received by IC3 | **21,442** | 2024 | [IC3 2024 Internet Crime Report](https://www.nacha.org/news/fbis-ic3-finds-almost-85-billion-lost-business-email-compromise-last-three-years) | | Cumulative BEC losses reported to IC3, 2022 to 2024 | **Nearly $8.5 billion** | 2024 | [IC3 2024 Internet Crime Report](https://www.nacha.org/news/fbis-ic3-finds-almost-85-billion-lost-business-email-compromise-last-three-years) | | Organizations that experienced attempted or actual payments fraud | **76%** | 2025 | [2026 AFP Payments Fraud and Control Survey](https://www.financialprofessionals.org/about/learn-more/press-releases/Details/over-75-percent-of-us-firms-experienced-payments-fraud-in-2025-while-ai-adoption-for-fraud-mitigation-lags) | | Organizations affected by business email compromise | **74%** | 2025 | [2026 AFP Payments Fraud and Control Survey](https://www.financialprofessionals.org/about/learn-more/press-releases/Details/over-75-percent-of-us-firms-experienced-payments-fraud-in-2025-while-ai-adoption-for-fraud-mitigation-lags) | | Organizations reporting wire transfers as targeted by payments fraud | **25%** | 2025 | [2026 AFP Payments Fraud and Control Survey](https://www.financialprofessionals.org/about/learn-more/press-releases/Details/over-75-percent-of-us-firms-experienced-payments-fraud-in-2025-while-ai-adoption-for-fraud-mitigation-lags) | | Organizations reporting checks as subject to fraud | **58%** | 2025 | [2026 AFP Payments Fraud and Control Survey](https://www.financialprofessionals.org/about/learn-more/press-releases/Details/over-75-percent-of-us-firms-experienced-payments-fraud-in-2025-while-ai-adoption-for-fraud-mitigation-lags) | | Organizations using AI to combat payments fraud | **17%** | 2025 | [2026 AFP Payments Fraud and Control Survey](https://www.financialprofessionals.org/about/learn-more/press-releases/Details/over-75-percent-of-us-firms-experienced-payments-fraud-in-2025-while-ai-adoption-for-fraud-mitigation-lags) | | Organizations with revenue under $1B reporting financial losses from payments fraud | **48%** | 2025 | [2026 AFP Payments Fraud and Control Survey](https://www.financialprofessionals.org/about/learn-more/press-releases/Details/over-75-percent-of-us-firms-experienced-payments-fraud-in-2025-while-ai-adoption-for-fraud-mitigation-lags) | | Organizations with revenue over $1B reporting financial losses from payments fraud | **66%** | 2025 | [2026 AFP Payments Fraud and Control Survey](https://www.financialprofessionals.org/about/learn-more/press-releases/Details/over-75-percent-of-us-firms-experienced-payments-fraud-in-2025-while-ai-adoption-for-fraud-mitigation-lags) | | Organizations that experienced attempted or actual payments fraud | **79%** | 2024 | [2025 AFP Payments Fraud and Control Survey](https://www.financialprofessionals.org/about/learn-more/press-releases/Details/survey-79-percent-of-organizations-were-victims-of-attempted-or-actual-payments-fraud-activity-in-2024) | | Organizations citing BEC as an avenue for attempted or actual payments fraud | **63%** | 2024 | [2025 AFP Payments Fraud and Control Survey](https://www.financialprofessionals.org/about/learn-more/press-releases/Details/survey-79-percent-of-organizations-were-victims-of-attempted-or-actual-payments-fraud-activity-in-2024) | | Organizations citing vendor imposter fraud | **45%** | 2024 | [2025 AFP Payments Fraud and Control Survey](https://www.financialprofessionals.org/about/learn-more/press-releases/Details/survey-79-percent-of-organizations-were-victims-of-attempted-or-actual-payments-fraud-activity-in-2024) | | Organizations reporting third-party impersonation BEC scams | **63%** | 2024 | [2025 AFP Payments Fraud and Control Survey](https://www.financialprofessionals.org/about/learn-more/press-releases/Details/survey-79-percent-of-organizations-were-victims-of-attempted-or-actual-payments-fraud-activity-in-2024) | | Organizations reporting wire transfers as the payment method most targeted by BEC | **63%** | 2024 | [2025 AFP Payments Fraud and Control Survey](https://www.financialprofessionals.org/about/learn-more/press-releases/Details/survey-79-percent-of-organizations-were-victims-of-attempted-or-actual-payments-fraud-activity-in-2024) | ## Business email compromise losses (FBI IC3) The FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center recorded **$3.046 billion** in reported BEC losses in 2025 across **24,768 complaints**, up from **$2.77 billion** and **21,442 complaints** in 2024. BEC was the second-highest loss category in 2025, behind investment fraud, and total reported cyber-enabled crime losses reached $20.877 billion, up 26%. From 2022 to 2024, BEC losses reported to IC3 totaled nearly $8.5 billion. IC3 also reported over $30 million in 2025 BEC losses with a confirmed AI nexus, such as cloned voices or synthetic media. That figure is a floor: it only counts cases where the AI link was confirmed. See [how deepfake CFO scams work](https://realpayee.com/answers/how-do-deepfake-cfo-scams-work). ## How many organizations are hit (AFP surveys) In the **2026 AFP Payments Fraud and Control Survey** (465 treasury practitioners, published April 2026), **76%** of US organizations experienced attempted or actual payments fraud in 2025 and **74%** were affected by business email compromise, up from 63% in the prior survey. Checks were the most targeted payment method (58%), followed by ACH debits (30%) and wires (25%). Only **17%** use AI to fight payments fraud. In the **2025 survey** (521 practitioners, covering 2024), **79%** of organizations were targeted, **45%** cited vendor imposter fraud (up 11 percentage points) and third-party impersonation was the most frequent BEC type at **63%**. Wires were the payment method most targeted by BEC scammers, reported by 63% of respondents, up from 39%. ## What the numbers mean for AP teams - **BEC is the main route in.** Most of these losses start with an email that looks like a real vendor or executive. Verify the person, not just the email. See [vendor fraud](https://realpayee.com/vendor-fraud) and [CEO fraud](https://realpayee.com/ceo-fraud). - **Vendor impersonation is growing.** A bank-detail change should never be accepted on email alone. Use our free [bank-change policy template](https://realpayee.com/templates/vendor-bank-change-policy). - **Wires are hard to recover.** Hold large payments until the real requester confirms out-of-band. See [wire fraud prevention](https://realpayee.com/wire-fraud-prevention). - **Check fraud has not gone away.** Keep [Positive Pay](https://realpayee.com/blog/what-is-positive-pay) for checks and debits. ## Methodology We compile figures only from primary sources or from publishers quoting them directly (the FBI IC3 annual report and AFP press releases), and we read each source before adding a number. Data year is the year the figure describes, not the year it was published. Rounded values are shown as the source rounded them. Reported losses understate true losses because many incidents are never reported. We do not run our own survey; this page is a curated, sourced compilation. ## Download the data Every row in the table is available as a CSV with numeric values, units, publisher, report date and source URL: [payment-fraud-statistics/data.csv](https://realpayee.com/payment-fraud-statistics/data.csv). ## Free to cite with attribution You are free to quote, chart and republish these statistics. Please cite the original source for each number and credit RealPayee with a link to realpayee.com/payment-fraud-statistics. Ready-made citation: **RealPayee, "Payment fraud statistics 2026", realpayee.com/payment-fraud-statistics, updated 2026-10-05.** ## Frequently asked questions ### How much money was lost to business email compromise in 2025? The FBI's IC3 recorded $3.046 billion (about $3.0 billion) in reported BEC losses in 2025 across 24,768 complaints, making BEC the second-highest loss category after investment fraud. Reported losses understate the real total because many incidents are never reported. ### What percentage of companies experience payments fraud? In the 2026 AFP Payments Fraud and Control Survey, 76% of US organizations experienced attempted or actual payments fraud in 2025. In the prior survey the figure was 79% for 2024. ### Is business email compromise getting worse? By most measures, yes. IC3 BEC losses rose from $2.77 billion in 2024 to about $3.0 billion in 2025, complaints rose from 21,442 to 24,768, and the share of AFP respondents affected by BEC rose from 63% to 74%. ### How common is vendor impersonation fraud? In the 2025 AFP survey, 45% of organizations cited vendor imposter fraud in 2024, an 11 percentage point increase, and third-party impersonation was the most frequent type of BEC scam at 63%. See [vendor fraud](https://realpayee.com/vendor-fraud) for how these schemes work. ### How should I cite these statistics? Cite the original source listed for each number (FBI IC3 or AFP) and, if you used this page to find or compare them, add: RealPayee, "Payment fraud statistics 2026", realpayee.com/payment-fraud-statistics, updated 2026-10-05. The data is free to reuse with attribution, and the CSV is at realpayee.com/payment-fraud-statistics/data.csv. ### How often is this page updated? We review it when the FBI IC3 annual report (usually April) and the AFP Payments Fraud and Control Survey (usually April) are released, and whenever we verify a new primary source. The updated date at the top shows the last review. ## Sources - [McDonald Hopkins: The sobering truth of the FBI's 2025 Internet Crime Complaint Center report](https://www.mcdonaldhopkins.com/insights/news/the-sobering-truth-of-the-fbis-2025-internet-crime-complaint-center-report) - [Nacha: FBI's IC3 finds almost $8.5 billion lost to business email compromise in last three years](https://www.nacha.org/news/fbis-ic3-finds-almost-85-billion-lost-business-email-compromise-last-three-years) - [AFP: Over 75 percent of US firms experienced payments fraud in 2025 (2026 AFP Payments Fraud and Control Survey)](https://www.financialprofessionals.org/about/learn-more/press-releases/Details/over-75-percent-of-us-firms-experienced-payments-fraud-in-2025-while-ai-adoption-for-fraud-mitigation-lags) - [AFP: 79 percent of organizations were victims of attempted or actual payments fraud in 2024 (2025 AFP Payments Fraud and Control Survey)](https://www.financialprofessionals.org/about/learn-more/press-releases/Details/survey-79-percent-of-organizations-were-victims-of-attempted-or-actual-payments-fraud-activity-in-2024) ## Related - [Vendor fraud: types, examples and how to prevent it](https://realpayee.com/vendor-fraud) - What vendor fraud is, the most common schemes (vendor impersonation, fake bank changes, fake invoices) and the controls that stop them. (markdown: https://realpayee.com/vendor-fraud.md) - [Wire fraud prevention: how to stop bank wire fraud](https://realpayee.com/wire-fraud-prevention) - Controls that prevent business wire fraud: out-of-band verification, payment thresholds, dual approval and audit trails. (markdown: https://realpayee.com/wire-fraud-prevention.md) - [Business email compromise examples and how to stop them](https://realpayee.com/blog/business-email-compromise-examples) - Seven business email compromise (BEC) examples finance teams see, the red flags in each, and the specific control that stops it before money moves. (markdown: https://realpayee.com/blog/business-email-compromise-examples.md) - [Who is liable for business email compromise losses?](https://realpayee.com/answers/who-is-liable-for-business-email-compromise-losses) - General information on who bears a business email compromise loss: the payer, the vendor, the bank or an insurer, and the factors that usually decide it. Not legal advice. 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