BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WBRC) – Alabamians lost more than $167 million last year to cyber criminals, according to the FBI’s most recent report on internet crimes.
One of the most alarming trends is the rise in children being targeted.
In Alabama, the most common scams include phishing, investment fraud, and sextortion. Kids 17 and younger in the state lost more than $52,000 in 2025, a trend the FBI expects to continue.
Rise in teens targeted by scammers
“I think we have a lot of minors now more than ever on social media,” said David Fitzgibbons, special agent in charge of the FBI Birmingham office.
The year 2025 saw a rise in teenagers being targeted by scammers, including everything from phishing to extortion.
“They are being groomed online, there’s sextortion, there’s cyberbullying, and those are major concerns for our youth, concerning for all of us,” Fitzgibbons said.
The most common ways teenagers are handing over money include gift cards, peer-to-peer transactions like Venmo or Cash App, and debit and credit cards.
In 2025, cryptocurrency saw a record-breaking increase across all scams.
“If you’re asking to be paid a fine, a fee, or someone is saying hey I can help you grow your cryptocurrency in a telegram channel, it’s a scam,” said Christina Wessel, special agent with the FBI Birmingham office. “They’re going to try and get you to send all of your funds to their wallet, and once it’s there, it’s very hard to get back.”
Prevention through education
The best way to prevent children from becoming victims is through education. Parents should make sure their children know the risks of talking to a stranger online.
“What you put through the internet or through an app, text message, or photo could become public,” Fitzgibbons said.
Parents should be involved in their child’s online life and make sure children know they can come to them if something feels wrong.
“Parents should always know when someone is asking their kids for sexually explicit photos of themselves and they need to get involved quickly and none of that gets shared,” Fitzgibbons said.
The past year was the first time the FBI included AI-related scams in the IC3 report, which resulted in $893 million lost to 22,000 different types of scams.
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