Alaska Scam Report: What's Targeting AK and How to Fight Back
Alaska residents filed 3,202 scam and cybercrime complaints with the FBI in 2025 and reported $40.0 million in losses — the 48th-highest total among the 50 states and DC. Here's what those numbers look like up close, which scams are actually hitting Alaska, and exactly where to report one.
Reviewed by the Cautellus team · Last updated July 2026
Source: FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) 2025 Annual Report. These are reported figures — the FBI estimates most victims never file, so real losses run far higher.
How Alaska Compares
Nationally, Americans filed 1,008,597 complaints and reported $20.877 billion in losses in 2025 — up 26% from the year before, with an average loss of $20,699 per complaint.
Alaska ranks 42nd in raw complaint volume and 48th in total losses. Adjusted for population, it ranks 2nd in complaints and 19th in losses per 100,000 residents. That per-capita rank is significantly worse than the raw numbers suggest — Alaska residents are being hit disproportionately hard for the state's size.
Scams Targeting Alaska Seniors
Alaska residents aged 60 and over filed 666 complaints and reported $16.3 million in losses in 2025 — roughly 41% of everything lost in the state. Nationally, the 60+ age group lost $7.748 billion, more than any other age bracket, led by investment fraud, tech-support scams, and romance scams.
If a parent or grandparent in Alaska gets a suspicious call, text, or pop-up, have them scan it first — before anyone moves money.
Cryptocurrency Fraud in Alaska
482 Alaska complaints referenced cryptocurrency in 2025, with $18.6 million in associated losses — about 47% of the state's reported total. Most of it is investment fraud: “pig butchering” schemes that start with a friendly message on social media, a dating app, or a wrong-number text, and end at a fake trading platform that won't let you withdraw. Crypto ATM payment demands — for “bail,” “back taxes,” or “securing your account” — are the other major pattern. No legitimate business or government agency takes payment through a crypto ATM.
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Scan Now — It's FreeScam Patterns Hitting Alaska
PFD phishing
Scammers impersonate the Permanent Fund Dividend program with fake application portals and “your PFD is on hold” texts timed to filing and payout season. The real division never texts you a link to claim your dividend.
Military impersonation romance scams
With JBER and a large military community, romance scammers routinely steal service members' photos and identities — both to target Alaskans and to pose as “deployed soldiers” who can't video call.
Marketplace and freight scams
Because so much of what Alaskans buy has to ship, fake sellers exploit the distance: vehicles, snowmachines, and equipment listed below market price, with a “shipping company” that takes your wire and disappears. Alaska filed the second-highest complaint rate per capita in the country in 2025.
How to Report a Scam in Alaska
- 1If money moved, call your bank first. Ask for the fraud department and request a recall or reversal. Minutes matter more than anything else on this list.
- 2File with the FBI at ic3.gov. Fast reports give the FBI's Recovery Asset Team a chance to freeze wire transfers — and your complaint becomes part of the same dataset this page is built on.
- 3Report to the FTC at reportfraud.ftc.gov. FTC reports feed the Consumer Sentinel network used by law enforcement nationwide.
- 4File with the Alaska Department of Law, Consumer Protection Unit. State consumer-protection offices mediate complaints, issue local warnings, and bring enforcement actions against scammers operating in Alaska.
- 5Warn the next person. Share what happened on Cautellus so the phone number, website, or username gets flagged for everyone else who searches it.
FAQs
How much money did Alaska residents lose to scams in 2025?
Alaska residents reported $40.0 million in losses across 3,202 complaints filed with the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) in 2025 — the 48th-highest total among the 50 states and DC. Actual losses are higher, since most scams are never reported.
How do I report a scam in Alaska?
File with the FBI at ic3.gov (especially if you lost money — fast reporting helps the FBI's Recovery Asset Team attempt to freeze transfers), report to the FTC at reportfraud.ftc.gov, and file a complaint with the Alaska Department of Law, Consumer Protection Unit. If money left your bank account, call your bank's fraud department immediately.
Are older Alaska residents targeted more?
Alaska residents aged 60 and over filed 666 complaints and reported $16.3 million in losses in 2025 — about 41% of the state's reported losses. Nationally, people 60+ lost $7.748 billion, more than any other age group.
Other States in the West
Before You Pay, Click, or Reply
Every scam pattern on this page shares one weakness: it falls apart under a second opinion. If a text, email, link, or phone number feels off, run it through the Cautellus scanner before you act — it checks against 10,000+ confirmed scam entities aggregated from Reddit, FBI IC3, FTC, and global phishing databases, refreshed every 6 hours.
Think you've received a scam?
Paste a suspicious message, email, or URL into our free AI scanner for instant analysis.
Scan Now — It's FreeSources: FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) 2025 Annual Report — state complaint, loss, per-capita, 60+, and cryptocurrency tables.