91³Ô¹ÏÍø

Watch CBS News
Local News

New Yorkers lost about $6.5 billion to fraud schemes in 2025, report says

By
Carolyn Gusoff
Carolyn Gusoff
Carolyn Gusoff has covered some of the most high profile news stories in the New York City area and is best known as a trusted, tenacious, consistent and caring voice of Long Island's concerns.
Read Full Bio
Carolyn Gusoff

/ CBS New York

New Yorkers lost about $6.5 billion to fraud schemes in 2025, according to a new report from the Consumer Federation of America.

The report, titled "," says Americans are losing at least $119 billion a year to online scams, and many start with direct messaging on social media.

State Attorney General Letitia James joined advocates and victims at Elmont Library on Thursday for a listening session on the explosion of fraud.

"We are seeing retirement accounts drained in a single transfer, life savings wiped out," said Chuck Bell, with Consumer Reports.

"Please, do not release any information which is private -- your Social Security, your bank information, no information at all," James said.

Experts say key warning signs include urgent requests for money, cryptocurrency payments or gift cards, or strangers asking to move conversations off social media platforms.

"Made me feel like I could trust him"

For Cynthia Norris, it started with direct messages on Instagram from a man who claimed to be a well-known comedian in Finland.

"Was so personable and made me feel like I could trust him. He was so patient with teaching me how to do Bitcoin, and then it just, he just started, like, love-bombing me, as they say," she said.

In hundreds of messages, he pretended to be helping Norris make money. By the time she realized it was a scheme, she had sent him $58,000.

She said the shame keeps many victims silent.

"It's a crime of trust, which to me is worse than breaking into somebody's house, really," Norris said.

"It destroys the being of you"

A widowed grandmother on Long Island, who did not want to share her identity, said she met a man on a dating app who claimed he was an accomplished engineer overseas.

"He sent me emails with love poems. He sent me songs," she said. "[He said] when he gets home, we're gonna meet."

He convinced her to wire hundreds of thousands of dollars in the form of gift cards, claiming he needed the money for "emergencies."

"They stole his wallet. He had no money," the victim said.

She went on Facebook for help to recover the money and was scammed yet again. By the end, she had lost $800,000.

"It destroys the being of you, every shred that you have in your body," she said.

Neither of the victims got any of their money back, but they said sharing their stories is their way of fighting back.

In:

© 2026 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
const link = doc.createElement('link'); link.rel = 'stylesheet'; link.href = '/fly/fly/bundles/cbsnewscontent/css/cmp-banner.min.css?v=296763317a51cab90faa73f1bb146d5c'; doc.head.appendChild(link); doc.body.innerHTML = CONSENT_MESSAGE; } else { el.insertAdjacentHTML('afterend', CONSENT_MESSAGE); } }); } function hidePrivacyMessage() { // Remove from the main document document.querySelectorAll(`.${CONSENT_MESSAGE_CLASS}`).forEach(el => el.remove()); // Remove from inside any iframes document.querySelectorAll('iframe').forEach(iframe => { const doc = iframe.contentDocument || iframe.contentWindow.document; doc.querySelectorAll(`.${CONSENT_MESSAGE_CLASS}`).forEach(el => el.remove()); }); } function activateGatedScripts() { // Handle both new format (cmp-gated-script) and old OneTrust/Ketch format (optanon-category-4) const gatedScripts = Array.from(document.querySelectorAll('script.cmp-gated-script, script.optanon-category-4')); // Activate scripts sequentially with a small delay to avoid timing issues let delay = 0; gatedScripts.forEach(function(placeholder, index) { setTimeout(function() { // Skip if already processed if (placeholder.hasAttribute('data-cmp-processed')) { return; } placeholder.setAttribute('data-cmp-processed', 'true'); const newScript = document.createElement('script'); newScript.type = 'text/javascript'; // Try new format first (data-cmp-src), then fall back to old format (data-src) const src = placeholder.getAttribute('data-cmp-src') || placeholder.getAttribute('data-src'); if (src) { newScript.src = src; } else if (placeholder.textContent) { // Inline script - just copy the content newScript.textContent = placeholder.textContent; } // Handle new format attributes (data-cmp-attrs) - for both inline and external scripts const attrs = placeholder.getAttribute('data-cmp-attrs'); if (attrs) { const tempDiv = document.createElement('div'); tempDiv.innerHTML = '
<\/div>'; const tempAttrs = tempDiv.firstChild.attributes; for (let i = 0; i < tempAttrs.length; i++) { // For external scripts, allow defer/async. For inline scripts, skip them (not valid) if (src || (tempAttrs[i].name !== 'async' && tempAttrs[i].name !== 'defer')) { newScript.setAttribute(tempAttrs[i].name, tempAttrs[i].value); } } } // Copy other attributes from old OneTrust format for (let i = 0; i < placeholder.attributes.length; i++) { const attr = placeholder.attributes[i]; // Skip attributes we've already handled or don't want to copy if (!['class', 'data-src', 'data-type', 'data-cmp-src', 'data-cmp-attrs', 'data-cmp-processed', 'type', 'async', 'defer', 'src'].includes(attr.name)) { newScript.setAttribute(attr.name, attr.value); } } placeholder.parentNode.replaceChild(newScript, placeholder); // If external script, manually trigger window.onload handlers after it loads // This handles widgets that use window.onload for initialization if (src) { newScript.addEventListener('load', function() { // If page already loaded and script set a new onload handler, trigger it if (document.readyState === 'complete' && window.onload) { const originalOnload = window.onload; window.onload = null; // Clear temporarily to prevent loops originalOnload(); // Execute the handler } }); } }, delay); delay += 500; // 500ms delay between each script to allow full loading }); } cbsoptanon.onScriptsReady(function(cmp) { cmp.ot.targetingAllowed(function(allowed) { if (!allowed) { showPrivacyMessage(); } else { activateGatedScripts(); } }); cmp.ot.awaitInitialConsent(function(consent_model) { cmp.ot.addOnConsentChangedHandler(function() { cmp.ot.targetingAllowed(function(allowed) { if (allowed) { hidePrivacyMessage(); activateGatedScripts(); } else { showPrivacyMessage(); } }); }); }); });