Security News > 2020 > April > At least someone's making out like a bandit: Scammers have pocketed $13m in Coronavirus fraud from the US this year

Fraud related to the coronavirus has cost Americans $13m and so far counting, according to the US government.

While authorities have been warning for weeks of various scams and fraud operations based on the coronavirus pandemic, the FTC's report is one of the few to put a dollar amount on the damage being done by criminals.

The numbers largely follow the US population distribution, with large states like Texas, New York and Illinois among the most frequent in reporting crime.

Florida, true to form, is second on the list with 1,230 reported cases of fraud.

Not surprisingly, robocalls were the preferred means of phone contact, and of the reports that included a description, government fraud was the most popular form of phone grift, followed by medical and prescription fraud, with debt and student loan services also popular, followed up by warranty and protection plan services.

News URL

https://go.theregister.co.uk/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2020/04/15/scammers_coronavirus_fraud/