How This Calculator Works
This calculator adds up two kinds of costs: the cost to you, and the cost to society. The cost to you comes from the numbers you enter, along with standard interest, tax, and penalty math. The cost to society comes from SCARS Institute estimates of the wider harm that scams cause. Every result is an estimate, meant to show the true scale of these crimes, and it is not financial, tax, or legal advice.
The Money Taken
The calculator first adds up all the money the criminals took, from four places: your bank and savings accounts, your retirement accounts, your credit cards, and any money you borrowed. Together, these make up the money stolen. The costs to society, described below, are all based on this amount.
Taxes and Penalties on Retirement Withdrawals
When you take money out of a retirement account such as a 401(k) or a traditional IRA, the government usually treats it as income, so you owe tax on it. The calculator estimates that tax at 27% of the amount withdrawn: 22% for federal income tax, the most common bracket for these withdrawals, and 5% for state income tax. If you were younger than 59½, the IRS usually adds a 10% early withdrawal penalty on top of that. If you aren’t sure of your age at the time, the calculator includes the penalty and tells you so.
For example, a $50,000 withdrawal before age 59½ adds an estimated $13,500 in tax and $5,000 in penalties, for $18,500 in all. Your real figures depend on your own situation. Roth accounts follow different rules, some exceptions to the penalty exist, and some victims can deduct part of a scam loss on their taxes, so a tax professional can tell you exactly what applies to you.
Interest on Credit Cards and Loans
Money charged to credit cards or borrowed through a loan keeps costing you long after the scam ends, because you pay interest on it until it’s paid off. The calculator figures that interest the way lenders do: as equal monthly payments over the time you expect to take to repay it. It then subtracts the amount you borrowed from the total of all those payments, and the difference is the interest.
The calculator starts with typical 2026 interest rates, which you can change to match your own accounts: 21.5% a year for credit cards, 8% for a second mortgage or home equity loan, 12% for a personal loan, and 0% for money borrowed from family or friends. For example, $8,000 charged to a credit card at 21.5%, paid off over 3 years, costs about $2,924 in interest. A $40,000 home equity loan at 8%, repaid over 10 years, costs about $18,237 in interest.
The Cost to You
Your total cost adds together the money stolen, the taxes and penalties on retirement withdrawals, and the interest on credit cards and loans. This is the full amount the crime will cost you over time, which is often far more than the money the criminals actually received.
The Cost to Society
Scams harm far more than their victims. The SCARS Institute estimates four costs that every scam places on society, and the calculator applies them to the money stolen.
Long-term societal care adds $5 for every $1 stolen. Scam victims are more likely to come to depend on social services, such as housing assistance, health care, and income support, often for years afterward, and taxpayers carry that cost.
Law enforcement adds $1 for every $1 stolen. This covers the public cost of investigating scams, responding to victims, and fighting the criminal networks behind them.
Military costs add $8 for every $1 stolen. The SCARS Institute estimates that about 30% of the money stolen through scams around the world ends up with terrorist groups, hostile states, and criminal cartels. Countries must spend on defense and security to counter the threats that this money pays for.
Lost economic output is figured differently, because it depends on time, not on the amount stolen. While a victim recovers, the work and income they would have produced is lost to the economy. The calculator measures one year of that loss as $94,430, the U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) per person, and adjusts it for how long you were unable to work, or less able to work. For example, six months adds $47,215.
The calculator leaves out the cost of prosecuting and imprisoning scammers. So few scammers are ever arrested and convicted that this cost is too small to measure reliably.
Putting It Together
The total cost of the crime adds your cost to society’s cost. The calculator also shows the cost for every $1 stolen, counting the money itself and the costs to society. For example, a $15,000 scam, with 12 months of lost work, adds up this way: the $15,000 stolen, $75,000 for long-term societal care, $15,000 for law enforcement, $120,000 for military costs, and $94,430 in lost economic output, for a total of $319,430. That’s about $21.30 for every $1 the criminals took.
What These Numbers Don’t Include
These figures are conservative, because many real costs aren’t counted. They leave out the cost of treatment for the anxiety, depression, and trauma that often follow a scam; the cost to family members who lose work time or support a victim; the taxes never paid on the stolen money; and the costs that banks and other businesses pass on to every customer.
The true cost of these crimes is higher than any calculator can show.
