WASHINGTON—As the Federal Trade Commission’s new rule on government and business impersonation goes into effect, the agency is highlighting new dataon the most common ways consumers are targeted by these scams.
Combined, reported losses related to such impersonation scams topped $1.1 billion for the year, more than three times what consumers reported in 2020, the FTC said.
The new data spotlight reveals the five most commonly reported ways that government and business impersonators convince consumers to turn over their hard-earned money: copycat account security alerts; phony subscription renewals; fake giveaways, discounts, or money to claim; bogus problems with the law; and made-up package delivery issues.
Two Key Trends
In addition, the FTC said the spotlight highlights two key trends since 2020 when it comes to government and business impersonation scams: how consumers are contacted by scammers and how they pay scammers.
“Reports of text messages and email are trending up as phone calls decline. When it comes to payment methods, reported losses by bank transfers and cryptocurrency outrank every other payment method used to pay these scammers,” the FTC said. “Bank transfers account for about 40% of reported losses to government and business impersonators in 2023, followed by cryptocurrency at 21% of reported losses. Reported losses using both payment methods have increased many times over since 2020.”
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