‘Hey, you’re a phony!’: Imposter fraud is taking off, FTC says
Consumers lost $744M to scammers in 2016
More consumers are falling prey to scams in which con artists pretend to be someone trustworthy, such as a government official or service technician, in order to fraudulently seek money, the Federal Trade Commission says.
Incidents involving imposters have become so numerous that last year they were second only to complaints about debt collection practices in an annual tally compiled by the FTC. In all, more than 3 million total complaints were received.
The latest report marks the first time these so-called “imposter scams” surpassed identity theft in the annual FTC report. The FTC said it received more than 400,000 complaints about imposter fraud.
U.S. consumers lost a total of $744 million to fraud in 2016, the FTC says. Scams included advance payments for credit services, work-from-home job offers, buyers’ clubs, bogus charities, foreign money offers, Internet auctions, investment opportunities, mortgage foreclosure relief, “free” prizes and tax prep.
In 58% of the cases, unsuspecting consumers sent money to con artists by wire transfer. The median amount lost was $450.
“It’s effective,” said Monica Vaca, an acting associate director of the FTC. “We always tell people to take a deep breath. Take your time. If you get a scammy call that’s suspicious or weird, tell someone about it.”
Of the reports that listed the method of initial contact, some 77% were by phone. Only 8% of the scams involved email.
Florida had the most fraud and miscellaneous complaints per capita. Georgia, Michigan, Texas and Nevada rounded out the top five.
Older Americans are most vulnerable. People in their 60s were scammed most often, followed by those in their 50s. Some 97% of the scams are believed to originate in the U.S., the FTC found.