The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has issued its annual report on fraud. For 2018, it notes that imposter scams were number one in the number of complaints with debt collection scams number 2 and identity theft number 3.
The FTC says that it received nearly 3 million fraud complaints from consumers in 2018 who lost almost $1.48 billion. That is a 38% increase in the amount lost to fraud, nationwide, from 2017.
Popular methods of payment required by scammers included wire transfers and credit cards in first and second place respectively. A growing number of scammers are requiring to be paid by gift and reload cards.
For Washington State, the top three scams reported to the FTC were imposter scams (1), identity theft (2), and debt collection (3).
The FTC reminds everyone that if you receive a scam call you should hang up and report it to the FTC.
Federal Trade Commission:
https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/press-releases/2019/02/imposter-scams-top-complaints-made-ftc-2018
FTC Complaint Assistant:
https://www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov/#crnt&panel1-1
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