COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) – The U.S. is seeing a rise in imposter scams fueled by the use of artificial intelligence, with a recent study finding Ohio is among the most impacted states.
BrokerChooser, an online platform that reviews digital banks, analyzed imposter scam reports made to the Federal Trade Commission in the third quarter of 2025 to find which states the schemes are most common in.
Imposter scams involve criminals pretending to be a trusted source, such as a government official, bank representative or family member, to steal money or personal information. The scams are four times more common now than in 2020, with BrokerChooser attributing some of the rise to artificial intelligence, which allows scammers to easily generate people’s voices.
“Imposter scams are spiraling across the U.S. and the signals are getting increasingly subtle, with AI enabling scammers to mimic voices, emails and websites easily,” said Adam Nasli, head broker analyst at BrokerChooser.
The company’s analysis found that Ohio saw the 10th-most imposter scams in the U.S., recording 686 reports per one million residents in the third quarter of 2025. This figure marks a sharp increase from the 393 reports per million residents during the same period in 2024.
During the third quarter of last year, Ohio residents collectively lost $12,191,713 to imposter scams, leaving the average victim with losses of $1,509, according to the study.
Delaware took the top spot as the state experiencing the most imposter scams, racking up 930 reports per one million people. Residents lost a combined $2,506,970, with the average victim being scammed out of $2,681.
The full top 10 included:
The study also found which age groups are most impacted. Americans aged 70 to 79 were the most vulnerable to imposter scams, followed by those aged 60 to 69 and then people between the ages of 50 to 59.
To avoid falling victim to imposter scams, Nasli suggested always looking out for high-pressure tactics that demand immediate action or threaten account freezes.
“Always pause and verify the request directly with official channels, and never hand over personal information or make transfers on the spot,” Nasli said. “Legitimate banks and brokers rarely call you out of the blue for sensitive data, so stay skeptical.”
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