"Investment Scams Drive $9bn in Fraud in 2022"

According to new data from the FTC, Americans lost $8.8bn to fraud last year, with investment scams ($3.8bn) being the biggest money-maker for fraudsters.  The FTC stated that investment fraud had surged by over 100% from 2021 when the figure stood at $1.8bn.  "Impoter scams" was second place on the FTC list, which garnered $2.8bn, up slightly from 2021 figures of $2.4bn.  Imposter scams include calls, texts, or emails where a victim is contacted out of the blue by a scammer pretending to be someone else and socially engineered into handing over their personal and financial information or paying the fraudster directly.  The  FTC noted that losses to business imposters were particularly high, climbing from $453m in 2021 to $660m in 2022.  Overall, the FTC's Consumer Sentinel Network received 5.2 million reports in 2022.  Identity theft reports were most common, followed by notification of imposter scams and then problems with credit bureaus and info furnishers.  A total of 2.4 million fraud reports were filed with the FTC in 2022, a quarter (26%) of which involved financial losses.  The agency said the $8.8bn figure works out to a median loss of $650 per victim.  However, the FTC noted that it is much higher ($1400) for scams carried out over the phone, highlighting the danger of vishing calls, tech support scams, and other tactics designed to trick recipients.  The FTC found that younger people reported losing money more often to fraudsters than their elders: 43% of 20-29-year-olds did so, versus 23% of 70-79-year-olds.  However, when the latter group did suffer a loss, it was far greater, $1000, versus $548 for the younger group.  The median loss for those aged 80+ was even higher still, at $1674.

Infosecurity reports: "Investment Scams Drive $9bn in Fraud in 2022"