Reporting fraud to the FTC and the FBI helps educate the public and can help authorities catch criminals. Thitima Uthaiburom/Getty Images

We at CNET commonly suggest victims contact the Federal Trade Commission or the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center to share their experience if they've endured any type of fraud or identity theft .

But even if you didn't suffer monetary loss or mistakenly coughed up your personal information — like your Social Security number — you should still report a scam. According to the FTC, only 38% of fraud reports to the agency in 2024 involved monetary losses.

Fraud reports help the FTC and FBI inform and educate the public about popular scams , and they aid local and federal authorities in catching criminals. The latter especially is why

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