Security News > 2023 > February > FTC reveals alarming increase in scam activity, costing consumers billions

Newly released Federal Trade Commission data shows that consumers reported losing nearly $8.8 billion to fraud in 2022, an increase of more than 30 percent over the previous year.

Consumers reported losing more money to investment scams - more than $3.8 billion-than any other category in 2022.

The FTC received fraud reports from 2.4 million consumers last year, with the most commonly reported being imposter scams, followed by online shopping scams.

Sentinel received more than 5.1 million reports in 2022; these include the fraud reports detailed above, as well as identity theft reports and complaints related to other consumer issues, such as problems with credit bureaus and banks and lenders.

The FTC uses the reports it receives through the Sentinel network as the starting point for many of its law enforcement investigations.

While the FTC does not intervene in individual complaints, Sentinel reports are a vital part of the agency's law enforcement mission.

News URL

https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2023/02/27/ftc-scams-fraud-costing-consumers-billions/