Scams are something that is not going away. As soon as we think we have found a way to stop one scam, a new scam shows up to replace it. Now the FTC has announced the top 5 scams from 2022.
Pay attention to these, the FTC says total losses to scams were almost $8.8 billion in 2022, up from $6.1 billion in 2021. It is often the people who think they can’t get scammed that get hit the hardest.
Here are the top five most common scams to watch out for:
#1 Imposter Scams – Someone who pretends to be family or friends and asks for money, for example.
#2 Online Shopping – Be careful of deals that sound too good to be true. Also, be careful of sites that try and trick you into thinking they are a different site than they really are. Always look closely at the domain name you are on.
#3 Prizes, Sweepstakes, and Lotteries – Be careful of anything that says you won something but need to pay shipping, etc.
#4 Investments – Becare of people who try to talk you into investing your money into something.
#5 Business and job opportunities – Be careful of anyone who asks you to pay some fee to get a job or get in on a make money quick business idea.
Companies are also victims of scams as the FTC is reporting that $2.6 billion was lost by businesses to scammers.
Lastly, be careful on social media as scams from social media platforms totaled $1.2 billion, and the median loss per person was $1,400 to social media scams.
As always, be careful out there, and if it sounds too good to be true…