Fraudsters have a new favorite tool, and it is not a Nigerian prince email. It is a flawlessly rendered deepfake of a celebrity telling you this crypto platform is the real deal. New York’s Department of State just issued a formal consumer alert warning that AI-powered investment scams drained more than $8 billion from American victims in 2025 alone.
The numbers come from Federal Trade Commission data, which recorded 144,041 consumers reporting investment-related losses last year. That represents a 38% jump from 2024, making investment fraud the single most costly fraud category the FTC tracks.
What AI is actually doing to the fraud playbook
The median individual loss hit $10,560, higher than any other major fraud category the FTC measures.
Scammers no longer need a believable script and a burner phone. They now deploy AI tools to clone voices, fabricate celebrity endorsements, and produce high-production video ads that would not look out of place on a legitimate financial platform’s website.
