PA Attorney General: Pennsylvanians lost $75 million to scammers last year

PA Attorney General Dave Sunday says scammers are successfully targeting Pennsylvanians and getting away with tens of millions of dollars each year.

His office received approximately 3,5000 complaints about scams in 2024. That number climbed to more than 4,000 in 2025.

“We’ve seen the number of complaints increase dramatically over this year,” Sunday said in a one-on-one interview Monday. “Once that money is gone, a lot of times they’re not gonna get it back.”

The total amount lost increased by $30 million. The AG’s Office has a record of PA scam victims losing $45 million in 2024. That climbed to $75 million in 2025. Keep in mind that this only accounts for victims who filed reports with the Attorney General’s Office. Many victims do not report if they have lost money in a scam. 

Sunday is urging PA residents, in particular seniors, to be cautious and ignore calls and emails from unknown numbers or email addresses. He said he reiterated that same advice to his own elderly parents over the Christmas holiday.

“The number of scams that my parents are receiving have quintupled in the last few months, and that is a direct result of the new level of sophistication for scammers that are using AI to identify targets more accurately,” Sunday said.

Here are some of the most common scams people reported to the AG’s Office last year: phishing scams, gift card scams, romance scams and law enforcement impersonation scams.

Sunday said scammers most frequently received money from victims via wire transfer and cryptocurrency like Bitcoin. He said scammers are also utilizing artificial intelligence to adapt scams for the time of year, like during the holidays or tax season.

Sunday said he expects increased scam activity throughout tax season and is warning PA residents that the IRS and legitimate tax-filing companies will not ask for personal information over the phone or email.

“The government will not reach out to you via email. You’ll get a letter in the mail. People need to remember not to respond to that. And every time that happens, they ask senior citizens for their Social Security number or their date of birth. That is a huge red flag. That is a big no,” Sunday said.

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