?
According to Monica Vaca of the Division of Consumer Response and Operations, a whopping $328 million was lost to someone pretending to be a loved one in trouble, a government official, tech support, or someone else who?s not who they say they are, but who wants your money. {{more: continue…}}?It is called impostor scams.?
In the subcategories of impostor scams, there fewer of debt collection reports but it was still the top category followed by identity theft.
?
For everyone who reported identity theft, credit card fraud tops the list, and continues to grow. Reports of tax fraud are down 46%, but it was still reported by nearly 63,000 people.
?
For those 20-29, the median loss was $400. The comparable figures were $621 for those 70 to 79 and $1,092 for those 80 and above.
?
After impostors, the top categories in order of number of reports were:
- phone and mobile services (150,000);?
- prizes, sweepstakes and lotteries (143,000);?
- shop-at-home and catalog sales (126,000);?
- internet services (45,000);?
- foreign money offers and counterfeit checks (32,000);?
- travel, vacation and time-shares (22,000);?
- business and job opportunities (19,000);?
- advance payments for credit (18,000); and,?
- health care (10,000).
Texas ranked 6th in the nation for reports of fraud (Florida led the nation) and Texas was 11th in identity theft reports (Michigan was #1). Find out more at?FTC Consumer Information?More about the Federal Trade Commission:???The Federal Trade Commission works to promote competition and protect and educate consumers. You can learn more about consumer topics and file a consumer complaint online or by calling 1-877-FTC-HELP (382-4357).??
