In accordance with a new evaluation of FBI information, Florida residents misplaced greater than $40 million to job scams in 2025 – the very best price per particular person of any U.S. state – in line with a brand new evaluation of FBI information.
The FBI’s 2025 Web Crime Report recorded almost 25,000 employment rip-off complaints nationally, with losses up 37% year-on-year.
The numbers:
Florida residents filed 2,096 employment rip-off complaints in 2025, dropping a mixed $40 million. That is greater than double the $19 million misplaced in 2024.
That works out to $171,000 in job rip-off losses per 100,000 residents – the very best price of any U.S. state.
42% of Florida’s job rip-off complaints concerned cryptocurrency, with scammers more and more utilizing pretend “distant work” duties to empty victims’ crypto wallets.
The danger is intensifying in Florida this yr. Greater than 6,100 Floridians have already misplaced their jobs in 2026 in line with filed WARN notices, and Spirit Airways’ sudden shutdown will put hundreds extra out of labor – many in South Florida, the place the airline is headquartered.
Matthew Stern, CEO of CNC Intelligence, a digital forensics agency, warns that mass job losses create ultimate situations for scammers: newly unemployed folks, anxious to seek out work, are much more prone to interact with a “recruiter” they’d usually ignore.
Job scams usually contain criminals posing as recruiters or employers by way of e-mail, LinkedIn, WhatsApp, or Telegram – to steal private information, fee particulars, or to trick victims into sending cash for gear, coaching, or “investments” wanted to unlock pay.
Stern explains: “No actual employer will ever ask you to pay earlier than you can begin the job or entry your personal earnings. If you happen to realise you’ve already been caught up in one among these schemes, reduce off contact right away and report it to the FBI’s Web Crime Grievance Middle at IC3.gov.”
Florida misplaced greater than $40 million to job scams final yr – the very best per-capita price of any US state. Losses greater than doubled year-on-year, and 42% of complaints contain cryptocurrency.
