The Federal Trade Commission just released data showing the top "scams" reported to the FTC in 2024. As the FTC explained, "Those reports help the FTC bring enforcement cases and educate people about scams."
The top five areas where the FTC received complaints in 2024 were:
- Imposters;
- Online shopping and negative reviews;
- Business and job opportunities;
- Investments; and
- Internet services.
Interestingly, the FTC also reported that, although the FTC received roughly the same number of complaints as it did from the year before, "more people lost a lot more money to fraud."
Some other key conclusions that the FTC reached were:
- The biggest losses happened by bank transfer or payment, followed by cryptocurrency;
- Investment scams led to big losses;
- People reported losing money more often when contacted through social media;
- Job scams and fake employment agency losses jumped a lot; and
- Younger people lost money more often.
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