May 24, 2024 · People most frequently named Facebook and Instagram in these reports, [6] and most often reported online shopping scams that started with ads on social media. However, the largest reported losses to scams starting on social media platforms were to investment scams. How scammers get their money varies by the type of scam, too.

Jan 28, 2025 · Phishing Scams and How to Spot Them. Phishing is a type of online scam that targets consumers by sending them an e-mail that appears to be from a well-known source – an internet service provider, a bank, or a mortgage company, for example.

Dec 8, 2022 · Prize, sweepstakes, and lottery scams often impersonate a well-known business to trick people into sending money to claim nonexistent winnings. Reports point to these scams as especially costly to people 80 and over – about one out of every three dollars reported lost to fraud by this age group in 2021 was lost to a prize, sweepstakes, and ...

Dec 12, 2024 · Overall reported losses on job scams tripled from 2020 to 2023 and were more than $220 million in just the first six months of 2024. Task scams were estimated to account for nearly 40 percent of the 2024 job scam reports. Task scams often start with a text or WhatsApp message to a consumer about online work, but with few specifics.

The most commonly reported scam category was imposter scams, which saw significant increases in reports of both business and government impersonators. Online shopping issues were the second most commonly reported in the fraud category, followed by prizes, sweepstakes, and lotteries; investment-related reports; and business and job opportunity ...

Feb 22, 2022 · The FTC received fraud reports from more than 2.8 million consumers last year, with the most commonly reported category once again being imposter scams, followed by online shopping scams. Prizes, sweepstakes, and lotteries; internet services; and business and job opportunities rounded out the top five fraud categories.

But reports of romance scams that start with unexpected private messages on social media platforms are even more common. In fact, 40% of people who said they lost money to a romance scam last year said the contact started on social media; 19% said it started on a website or app. [3] Many people reported that the scammer then quickly moved the ...

Consumers reported losing more money to investment scams—more than $3.8 billion—than any other category in 2022. That amount more than doubles the amount reported lost in 2021. The second highest reported loss amount came from imposter scams, with losses of $2.6 billion reported, up from $2.4 billion in 2021.

Online Listing and Advertising Scams. Scammers try to fool you into paying for nonexistent advertising or a listing in a phony business directory. They may ask you to give your contact information for a “free” listing, or say the call is simply to “confirm” your information.

Mar 19, 2024 · The FTC will never demand money, make threats, tell you to transfer money, or promise you a prize. You can learn more about consumer topics and report scams, fraud, and bad business practices online at ReportFraud.ftc.gov. Follow the FTC on social media, read our blogs and subscribe to press releases for the latest FTC news and resources.