Poll finds scams hit US households financially and emotionally

Scams reached one in 10 US adults either directly or through their household last year, according to a Gallup report released Tuesday. The findings point to a toll that extends beyond stolen money, with 73% of affected people saying the episode harmed their mental health or wellbeing.

Gallup said 6% of US adults reported being personally scammed in 2025, while another 4% said someone else in their household was victimized. The report said scams can make people more wary of online shopping and less willing to deal with unfamiliar businesses.

Losses varied widely

The Stop Scams Alliance and Gallup estimated that scams cost people in the United States $68bn in 2025. Gallup put that figure at an average of $186m stolen each day.

More than half of the scams reported to Gallup involved losses of $500 or less. The average loss, however, was $5,578, because some victims reported losses that ran into the tens of thousands of dollars, according to the report.

The survey found that 23% of reported scams involved losses of $1 to $100, while 33% involved $101 to $500. Gallup said 13% involved $501 to $1,000, 21% involved $1,001 to $5,000, 5% involved $5,001 to $10,000 and 5% involved more than $10,000.

One in five adults who were scammed or lived in a household where someone was scammed said the incident caused severe financial hardship for the household, according to Gallup. The report said households earning less than $80,000 a year were hit harder.

Mental health effects were common

Gallup said emotional harm was more common than severe financial hardship. Among adults in scam-affected households, 28% described the impact on their mental health or wellbeing as very negative, while 45% called it moderately negative.

The survey also found emotional effects among people who lived with a scam victim, not only among those directly targeted. Gallup said the data show that the cost of scams cannot be measured only in dollars.

The report found differences across income, education and race. Gallup said people from lower-income households were more likely than wealthier people to say they had been scammed.

Adults without a bachelor’s degree were more likely than those with at least a bachelor’s degree to report being scammed, at 7% compared with 4%, according to Gallup. Black adults reported being scammed at 8% and Hispanic adults at 9%, compared with 5% of white adults, while the report said victimization rates did not differ by age.

Gallup said the lifetime reach of scams was broader than the 2025 figures. Nearly a quarter of US adults, 24%, reported having been scammed at some point, including 10% who said they had been victimized more than once.

The report warned that scams may weaken confidence in companies and systems people use in daily life at a time when trust in US institutions is already low. Gallup surveyed 5,173 US adults from January 8 to February 18, 2026.

This story draws on original reporting from Al Jazeera.