Delaware Scam Report: What's Targeting DE and How to Fight Back
Delaware residents filed 3,089 scam and cybercrime complaints with the FBI in 2025 and reported $62.0 million in losses — the 43rd-highest total among the 50 states and DC. Here's what those numbers look like up close, which scams are actually hitting Delaware, 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 Delaware 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.
Delaware ranks 44th in raw complaint volume and 43rd in total losses. Adjusted for population, it ranks 15th in complaints and 13th in losses per 100,000 residents. That per-capita rank is significantly worse than the raw numbers suggest — Delaware residents are being hit disproportionately hard for the state's size.
Scams Targeting Delaware Seniors
Delaware residents aged 60 and over filed 796 complaints and reported $16.2 million in losses in 2025 — roughly 26% 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 Delaware gets a suspicious call, text, or pop-up, have them scan it first — before anyone moves money.
Cryptocurrency Fraud in Delaware
436 Delaware complaints referenced cryptocurrency in 2025, with $26.9 million in associated losses — about 43% 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.
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 FreeScam Patterns Hitting Delaware
Corporate registration and annual-report notice scams
Because over a million businesses are incorporated in Delaware, scammers mass-mail official-looking “annual report fee” and “certificate of status” notices to LLC owners nationwide. The real Division of Corporations doesn't solicit through third-party mailers.
E-ZPass toll texts
Delaware's I-95 tolls give fake “unpaid toll” texts local credibility. The real DelDOT/E-ZPass system doesn't demand payment through text links.
Coastal retiree targeting
Delaware's fast-growing retiree population in Sussex County is a magnet for Medicare, tech-support, and investment scams — residents 60+ reported $16.2 million in losses in 2025.
How to Report a Scam in Delaware
- 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 Delaware Department of Justice, Fraud and Consumer Protection Division. State consumer-protection offices mediate complaints, issue local warnings, and bring enforcement actions against scammers operating in Delaware.
- 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 Delaware residents lose to scams in 2025?
Delaware residents reported $62.0 million in losses across 3,089 complaints filed with the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) in 2025 — the 43rd-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 Delaware?
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 Delaware Department of Justice, Fraud and Consumer Protection Division. If money left your bank account, call your bank's fraud department immediately.
Are older Delaware residents targeted more?
Delaware residents aged 60 and over filed 796 complaints and reported $16.2 million in losses in 2025 — about 26% of the state's reported losses. Nationally, people 60+ lost $7.748 billion, more than any other age group.
Other States in the South
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.