Consumer Fraud Reporting group lists top 10 scams of 2023

From ConsumerFraudReporting.org — 

Below is ConsumerFraudReporting.org’s list of the top 10 scams of 2023, to date. The list is continually updated. We have a side-by-side comparison of other reporting agencies’ top 10 scam lists here. The FTC’s (Federal Trade Commission) data reported more than $5.8 billion in losses to 2.8 million consumers due to fraud in the last reporting year, which is an increase of more than 70 percent over the previous year.

The top categories are various imposter scams, followed by online shopping scams, then prizes, sweepstakes, and lotteries; internet services and fake job opportunities.

Medical scams of all types grew to become the largest category during COVID, but have overtaken by more traditional scams: phishing, spoofing, identity theft. For detailed explanations of each scam, how to report a scammer and how to protect yourself, click on the blue titles below for more information!

The CFP list focuses on the scams that you could avoid, those reported to the CFR, FTC, Fraud.org and BBB (Better Business Bureau). For detailed explanations of each scam, how to report a scammer and how to protect yourself, click on the links below for more information.

Top 10 Scams

1. Identity Theft, Phishing and Pharming
   Usually a scammer sends an email, a text message or calls your phone and pretends to be some organization, company or person you trust. Scammers gain access to your confidential information, like social security numbers, date of birth and then use it to apply for credit cards, loans and financial accounts. Typically, the victim receives an email that appears to be from a credible, real bank or credit card company, with links to a website and a request to update account information. But the website and email are fakes, made to look like the real website.
2. Phone scams
   This includes telemarketers violating the Do Not Call list, Robo-dialers, scammers calling up pretending to be from a bank or credit card compamny. The National Do Not Call Registry (U.S.) or the National Do Not Call List (Canada) offer consumers a free way to reduce telemarketing calls. Scammers call anyway, of course, and they’ve even found a way to scam consumers by pretending to be a government official calling to sign you up or confirming your previous participation on the Dot Not call list! A good example of this is the “Your Microsoft license key has expired” scam call – which you can hear and read about on this page: Medicare scam text messages
3. Debt Collection:
   Most of the complaints under this category involve debt collectors. Consumers tell of receiving calls from harassing collectors who are threatening and will repeatedly call attempting to collect a debt. Other complaints that fall under this category involved credit/debit card fees, pay day loans, credit repair companies and unauthorized use of credit/debit cards. Some of these complaints involved hidden fees and billing disputes as well.
4. Fake Government Officials
   If you received an email, letter or phone call from a government agency (typically the IRS or FBI) and it instructs you to wire, Western Union or MoneyGram money someplace, or follow a link and enter information – don’t believe it!  The U.S. government would never instruct anyone to use those methods to pay any bill or carry out a financial transaction, particularly with an overseas bank or agency.
5. Scam Text Messages – It looks like a text alert from your bank, asking you to confirm information or ‘reactivate your debit card’ by following a link on your smart phone. But it is just a way to steal personal information.
6. Loans Scams / Credit Fixers
   False promises of business or personal loans, even if credit is bad, for a fee upfront. Or a scam that promises to repair your credit for a fee.
7. Fake Prizes, Sweepstakes, Free Gifts, Lottery Scams
   You receive an email claiming you won a prize, lottery or gift, and you only have to pay a “small fee” to claim it or cover “handling costs”. These include scams which can go under the name of genuine lotteries like the UK National Lottery and the El Gordo Spanish lottery.  Unsolicited email or telephone calls tell people they are being entered or have already been entered into a prize draw. Later, they receive a call congratulating them on winning a substantial prize in a national lottery. But before they can claim their prize, they are told they must send money to pay for administration fees and taxes. The prize, of course, does not exist. No genuine lottery asks for money to pay fees or notifies its winners via email.
8. Internet merchandise scams
   You purchase something online, but it is either never delivered or it is not what they claimed it was, or is defective. Online shopping, and other shop from home, such as catalog, mail and phone shopping scams are on the rise.
9. Automobile-Related Complaints
   Car loans, car buying, car sales, auto repair, fake or useless extended warranties. Some of the complaints alleged consumers paid for repairs and that services provided were shoddy. Consumers reported repair companies that return vehicles to the consumer in a worse condition than how it was initially given to them. Other complaints involved consumers not receiving title to their vehicles at the time of sale.
10. Fake check payments
    You sell something online or through Craig’s List Consumers  and you’re paid with phony checks, and instructed to
    wire money back to buyer. The check looks real… but after you try to cash it, you find out it is a fake; and you’re arrested for passing a counterfeit check! Read more about scam checks on this page and here about the EBay check scam.