- Overall Payment Fraud Statistics
- Check Fraud Statistics
This guide covers 40 payment fraud statistics every finance, treasury, and accounts payable team should know in 2026. Every figure links to a current public source. Where reports cover slightly different reference years or methodologies, we say so instead of papering over the gap.
How we verified this We cross-referenced the Association for Financial Professionals (AFP) Payments Fraud and Control Surveys, the FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) annual reports, the Federal Trade Commission Consumer Sentinel Network, the European Central Bank and European Banking Authority joint payment fraud report, the Nilson Report on global card fraud, and UK Finance's annual fraud report. Where vendor research is the only available source, we say so explicitly.
Payment fraud content recycles a lot of stale headline numbers. The 2026 AFP survey reports on 2025 activity, the 2025 AFP survey reports on 2024 activity, and a lot of pages still quote the 2024 survey, which covered 2023 activity. Where year matters, we note both the survey edition and the activity year.
Key Takeaways
- The 2026 AFP Payments Fraud and Control Survey (covering activity in 2025) found 76% of organizations experienced attempted or actual payments fraud.
- The earlier 2025 AFP survey (covering 2024) put that figure at 79%.
- Check fraud affected 58% of organizations in 2025 per the 2026 AFP report, and 63% in 2024 per the 2025 report.
- Business email compromise affected 74% of organizations in 2025 per the 2026 AFP report.
- The FBI IC3 2024 annual report recorded USD16.6 billion in reported cybercrime losses, with USD2.77 billion tied to business email compromise.
- The Nilson Report put global card fraud losses at USD33.41 billion in 2024, against USD51.92 trillion in global card volume.
- The ECB and EBA joint 2025 payment fraud report put EEA payment fraud losses at EUR4.2 billion in 2024.
Overall Payment Fraud Statistics
The single most-cited primary source for U.S. corporate payments fraud is the AFP Payments Fraud and Control Survey, produced annually since 2005 and underwritten by Truist.
According to the 2026 AFP Payments Fraud and Control Survey (covering activity in 2025):
- 76% of organizations experienced attempted or actual payments fraud in 2025.
- 58% reported check fraud.
- 74% reported business email compromise.
- Only 17% of organizations are using AI to combat payments fraud.
- The survey is based on responses from 465 corporate finance professionals across industries.
According to the 2025 AFP Payments Fraud and Control Survey (covering activity in 2024):
- 79% of organizations experienced attempted or actual payments fraud.
- 63% experienced check fraud.
- 63% experienced business email compromise.
- Over 75% of organizations still had no plans to stop check usage in the next two years.
- Only 22% of organizations recovered 75% or more of the funds they lost to payments fraud.
The directional message is the same in both editions. The headline rate is hovering in the mid-70s to high-70s. The most common fraud vectors are still checks and BEC. Recovery rates are getting worse, not better.
Check Fraud Statistics
Check fraud is the loudest signal in current U.S. data, even as overall check usage continues to fall. Per the 2025 AFP survey and the 2026 AFP survey:
- 63% of organizations experienced check fraud in 2024, dropping to 58% in 2025.
- More than 75% of organizations still had no plans to reduce check usage in the next two years, per the 2025 survey.
- Per Forvis Mazars analysis of FinCEN data, "Check Fraud" was the top-reported SAR category by banks, savings associations, and credit unions in 2022, 2023, and 2024.
- In 2025, check fraud became the fifth most-reported SAR category at 7.46%, as other categories grew faster.
- Total SAR filings in 2025 reached 2.193 million from depository institutions, a 7.66% increase over 2024.
The Federal Reserve has called out check fraud as one of the top risks in U.S. payments. In its Fed360 coverage of the AFP check fraud survey, the Federal Reserve Financial Services group flagged check fraud as a sustained primary threat to corporate disbursements.
Business Email Compromise Statistics
Business email compromise (BEC) is the fraud category with the largest single-vector financial impact in the U.S. According to the FBI IC3 2024 annual report:
- Total IC3-reported cybercrime losses reached USD16.6 billion in 2024, a 33% increase over 2023.
- IC3 received 859,532 complaints in 2024.
- BEC produced USD2.77 billion in reported losses in 2024 from 21,442 complaints, putting it second on the dollar list behind investment fraud.
- Per Nacha's IC3 summary, cumulative BEC losses approached USD8.5 billion across 2022 to 2024.
- The FBI's 2024 BEC PSA put cumulative global exposed BEC losses since 2013 at more than USD55 billion.
The corporate survey data is consistent with the law enforcement data. The 2026 AFP survey put BEC exposure at 74% of organizations in 2025. BEC is now the single most common attempted fraud vector against U.S. finance teams.
ACH Fraud Statistics
ACH-related fraud is smaller in dollar terms than check or card fraud but it is growing, partly because ACH volume itself is growing rapidly. According to Nacha's summary of the AFP Digital Payments Survey and the 2025 AFP fraud survey:
- 38% of organizations were victims of ACH debit fraud in 2024.
- 20% were victims of ACH credit fraud in 2024.
- The ACH network handled 33.6 billion payments worth USD86.2 trillion in 2024 (Nacha).
- B2B ACH volume rose 11.6% year over year in 2024, with total value of about USD58.2 trillion.
- Nacha's unauthorized return rate threshold is 0.5%, above which originators face Nacha review.
- Same Day ACH volume grew 45% in 2024 to more than 1.2 billion payments, and Same Day B2B reached 392.80 million transactions worth USD1.9 trillion.
To set expectations: ACH fraud rates remain a small fraction of total ACH volume, but the absolute number of fraud cases continues to climb because the network itself is so large.
Card and Card-Not-Present Fraud Statistics
The Nilson Report's 2024 worldwide card fraud overview is the most-cited primary source for global card fraud losses. According to that report:
- Worldwide payment card fraud losses reached USD33.41 billion in 2024, a 1.2% decrease from 2023.
- That was set against worldwide card volume of USD51.92 trillion in 2024.
- The United States accounted for 26.31% of global card volume but 41.87% of global card fraud losses in 2024.
- Nilson projects global card fraud losses of about USD41.06 billion by 2030.
- Cumulative card fraud losses worldwide over the next decade are projected at about USD403.88 billion.
For card-not-present fraud specifically, per FICO and the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City CNP brief:
- CNP fraud now accounts for the clear majority of U.S. card fraud losses since the post-EMV chip migration.
- CNP chargeback rates typically run 0.6% to 1% of transactions, against about 0.5% for card-present transactions.
Authorized Push Payment Fraud Statistics
Authorized push payment (APP) fraud is the category where instant payment rails (UK Faster Payments, EU SEPA Instant, U.S. RTP and FedNow) collide with social engineering. According to UK Finance's 2025 fraud report for activity in 2024:
- UK APP scam losses totalled GBP450.7 million in 2024, a 2% decrease from 2023.
- The number of UK APP fraud cases fell 20% to under 186,000, the lowest since 2020.
- Investment fraud was the largest sub-category at GBP144.4 million, up 34% despite a 24% drop in case volume.
- UK Finance reports total fraud losses (all categories) of over GBP1 billion in 2024.
According to Deloitte's 2025 APP fraud outlook, U.S. imposter-scam APP losses reached an estimated USD2.5 billion in 2024.
The UK's mandatory APP scam reimbursement policy took effect on 7 October 2024, with a per-claim cap of GBP85,000 and a five-business-day target for reimbursement. In the first three months, firms reimbursed 86% of in-scope losses, totalling about GBP27 million per UK Finance and PSR reporting.
European Payment Fraud Statistics
The ECB and EBA joint 2025 payment fraud report is the most comprehensive EU-wide source. According to that report:
- Total reported payment fraud in the EEA reached EUR4.2 billion in 2024.
- That was up from EUR3.5 billion in 2023 and EUR3.4 billion in 2022.
- Credit transfer fraud losses reached EUR2.20 billion in 2024, up 16% year over year.
- Card payment fraud losses (cards issued in the EEA) reached EUR1.33 billion in 2024, up 29% year over year.
- For credit transfers, payment service users (not banks) bore about 85% of total fraud losses in 2024, largely because of scams.
The Central Bank of Ireland's 2025 fraud brief noted that total Irish payment fraud value rose 26% in 2023 to EUR126 million, mostly driven by credit transfers and card payments.
Consumer Fraud Statistics
The FTC Consumer Sentinel Network 2024 Data Book covers consumer-reported fraud. According to that report:
- Reported consumer fraud losses reached USD12.5 billion in 2024, a 25% increase over 2023.
- The FTC received fraud reports from about 2.6 million consumers in 2024.
- Imposter scams produced the second-largest reported loss, at about USD2.95 billion in 2024.
- Government imposter scams specifically caused USD789 million in losses, up USD171 million from 2023.
- Bank transfer or payment was the largest payment method by reported dollar loss, at USD2.09 billion in 2024 (a 13% rise from 2023).
- The share of consumers who reported fraud and lost money rose from 27% in 2023 to 38% in 2024.
Payment Fraud by Method
Bringing the surveys together, the relative fraud exposure picture for U.S. organizations across 2024 to 2025 looks like this:
| Fraud type | Share of orgs affected | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Any payments fraud (2025 activity) | 76% | 2026 AFP survey |
| Any payments fraud (2024 activity) | 79% | 2025 AFP survey |
| Check fraud (2025 activity) | 58% | 2026 AFP survey |
| Check fraud (2024 activity) | 63% | 2025 AFP survey |
| BEC (2025 activity) | 74% | 2026 AFP survey |
| BEC (2024 activity) | 63% | 2025 AFP survey |
| ACH debit fraud (2024 activity) | 38% | 2025 AFP survey |
| ACH credit fraud (2024 activity) | 20% | 2025 AFP survey |
| Card or CNP fraud as share of card losses (US) | ~70% to 80% | FICO, Kansas City Fed |
Fund Recovery Statistics
A repeat finding across recent AFP reports is that recovery rates are getting worse, not better. According to the 2025 AFP survey covering 2024 activity:
- Almost six in ten organizations recovered up to 75% of funds lost to payments fraud.
- Only 22% recovered more than 75% of funds lost.
- 20% of respondents were unable to recover any of the funds lost.
- In contrast, 41% of organizations in 2023 were able to recover at least 75% of funds, indicating a sharp drop.
The picture matters for treasury planning. Even if your bank or processor catches the attempt, the realistic expected recovery on a successful fraud event has been falling, which raises the value of upstream controls (segregation of duties, payee verification, positive pay, MFA on payment platforms) relative to downstream recovery.
Payment Fraud Prevention Statistics
A few sources publish primary data on the controls organizations actually use. Per the 2025 AFP survey and the 2026 AFP report:
- Only 17% of organizations are using AI to combat payments fraud.
- More than 75% of organizations had no plans to reduce check usage in the next two years (2025 survey).
- Positive pay and payee positive pay remain among the most-used controls by U.S. organizations, per AFP commentary, though the report does not publish a single deployment percentage.
The structural recommendation across AFP, the Federal Reserve, the ECB-EBA report, and FBI IC3 is the same: combine identity verification at the point of payment with multi-channel authentication for new payee setup. The reason every law enforcement and central bank source pushes that combination is that the two most expensive fraud types in 2024 and 2025 (BEC and APP fraud) both bypass perimeter controls by exploiting trusted human approval.
What These Payment Fraud Statistics Mean
Three patterns emerge across every credible primary source for 2024 and 2025.
Check fraud is shrinking but still dominates the U.S. corporate picture. Even as ACH volume and Same Day ACH grow, checks remain the most-reported single fraud method by U.S. organizations and by depository institution SAR filings.
Business email compromise is the highest-impact corporate fraud type. It does not always carry the highest case count, but in dollar terms it now matches or exceeds investment fraud in IC3 reporting and is the most prevalent attempted attack vector in AFP survey data.
Recovery is getting harder. The drop from 41% of organizations recovering at least 75% of stolen funds in 2023 to 22% in 2024 is the single most operationally relevant change in the recent data. Spending more on prevention is the obvious response. So is closer alignment between treasury, accounts payable, and IT or security.
If you only do three things from this page, do these:
- Turn on positive pay (and payee positive pay where available) for every business checking account you write checks from.
- Require a second-channel verification (phone, in-person, or out-of-band ID check) for every new vendor banking detail and every change to existing vendor banking detail.
- Make sure your invoicing and payment workflow does not allow a single user to both create a payee and authorize a payment.
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When this guide isn't for you
These statistics are aggregated benchmarks. They are not legal advice and they are not a substitute for your own incident data. If you operate in a high-risk vertical (B2B SaaS handling card data, payment processors, large-ticket construction, professional services with large wire transfers) the headline numbers in surveys may significantly understate your actual exposure. If you operate in a small-business segment that the AFP sample under-represents, the same surveys may overstate your exposure.
Frequently Asked Questions
What percentage of organizations experience payment fraud?
The 2026 AFP Payments Fraud and Control Survey, covering 2025 activity, puts that at 76%. The prior 2025 survey, covering 2024 activity, put it at 79%. Both surveys are based on responses from corporate finance professionals across hundreds of organizations.
How big are global card fraud losses?
The Nilson Report put worldwide payment card fraud losses at about USD33.41 billion in 2024, against worldwide card volume of about USD51.92 trillion. Nilson projects global card fraud losses of about USD41.06 billion by 2030.
How much does business email compromise cost?
The FBI IC3's 2024 annual report recorded about USD2.77 billion in BEC losses on 21,442 complaints. Cumulative BEC losses reported to IC3 between 2022 and 2024 were close to USD8.5 billion, and cumulative global exposed BEC losses since 2013 are above USD55 billion per the FBI's 2024 PSA.
Is check fraud actually going down?
Check fraud share fell from 63% of organizations in 2024 to 58% in 2025 per AFP, but that decline is partly a denominator effect. As organizations write fewer checks, the per-check fraud rate is still rising in some bank data. Check fraud was the top-reported SAR category by U.S. depository institutions in 2022, 2023, and 2024 per FinCEN.
What is the typical payment fraud recovery rate?
Per AFP, only 22% of organizations recovered more than 75% of funds lost to payments fraud in 2024, down from 41% in 2023. About 20% of respondents recovered none of the funds. Treat anything above a 50% recovery rate as optimistic for planning purposes.