Kansas Scam Report: What's Targeting KS and How to Fight Back
Kansas residents filed 7,927 scam and cybercrime complaints with the FBI in 2025 and reported $147.3 million in losses — the 29th-highest total among the 50 states and DC. Here's what those numbers look like up close, which scams are actually hitting Kansas, 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 Kansas 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.
Kansas ranks 32nd in raw complaint volume and 29th in total losses. Adjusted for population, it ranks 22nd in complaints and 22nd in losses per 100,000 residents. That per-capita rank is significantly worse than the raw numbers suggest — Kansas residents are being hit disproportionately hard for the state's size.
Scams Targeting Kansas Seniors
Kansas residents aged 60 and over filed 2,013 complaints and reported $55.7 million in losses in 2025 — roughly 38% 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 Kansas gets a suspicious call, text, or pop-up, have them scan it first — before anyone moves money.
Cryptocurrency Fraud in Kansas
1,057 Kansas complaints referenced cryptocurrency in 2025, with $78.1 million in associated losses — about 53% 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 Kansas
K-TAG turnpike smishing
Fake Kansas Turnpike Authority/K-TAG “toll violation” texts circulate statewide. The KTA has publicly warned it does not send payment links by text.
Military-community romance and impersonation scams
Fort Riley and Fort Leavenworth make Kansas a source of stolen service-member identities for romance cons — and put military families on scammers' target lists.
Farm and equipment fraud
Fake ag-equipment listings and grain-buyer fraud target rural Kansas. Kansans lost $147.3 million to online fraud in 2025 — $4.9 million per 100,000 residents, a higher per-capita rate than several much larger states.
How to Report a Scam in Kansas
- 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 Kansas Attorney General's Office. State consumer-protection offices mediate complaints, issue local warnings, and bring enforcement actions against scammers operating in Kansas.
- 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 Kansas residents lose to scams in 2025?
Kansas residents reported $147.3 million in losses across 7,927 complaints filed with the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) in 2025 — the 29th-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 Kansas?
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 Kansas Attorney General's Office. If money left your bank account, call your bank's fraud department immediately.
Are older Kansas residents targeted more?
Kansas residents aged 60 and over filed 2,013 complaints and reported $55.7 million in losses in 2025 — about 38% of the state's reported losses. Nationally, people 60+ lost $7.748 billion, more than any other age group.
Other States in the Midwest
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.