The official website of the Federal Trade Commission, protecting America’s consumers for over 100 years.

Dec 8, 2022 · Prize, sweepstakes, and lottery scams often impersonate a well-known business to trick people into sending money to claim nonexistent winnings. Reports point to these scams as especially costly to people 80 and over – about one out of every three dollars reported lost to fraud by this age group in 2021 was lost to a prize, sweepstakes, and ...

5 days ago · Phishing Scams and How to Spot Them. Phishing is a type of online scam that targets consumers by sending them an e-mail that appears to be from a well-known source – an internet service provider, a bank, or a mortgage company, for example.

Mar 10, 2025 · The FTC received fraud reports from 2.6 million consumers last year, nearly the same amount as 2023. The most commonly reported scam category was imposter scams. Losses to government imposter scams in particular increased $171 million from 2023 to a …

May 24, 2024 · Gift cards were the top reported payment method on several types of scams in 2023, including romance scams, tech support scams, government impersonation scams, and scams that impersonate people you know, like your boss or a grandchild. Reports show that scammers specify what gift card brand to buy, which most people named in their reports.

Oct 11, 2024 · Hello CR.Hby. Thank you for using Microsoft products and posting in the community. I know that you worry when you receive an email from an unknown sender and I understand how you feel.

Nov 27, 2024 · Tech support scams often want the caller to pay for tech support services they don't need, to fix a problem that doesn’t exist. They often ask consumers to pay by wiring money, putting money on a gift card, prepaid card, or cash reload card, or using cryptocurrency or a money transfer app because they know those types of payments can be hard ...

Apr 1, 2024 · Scams that impersonate well-known businesses and government agencies are consistently among the top frauds reported to the FTC’s Consumer Sentinel Network. [1] In 2023, data from the FTC alone show more than 330,000 reports of business impersonation scams and nearly 160,000 reports of government impersonation scams. [2]

The most commonly reported scam category was imposter scams, which saw significant increases in reports of both business and government impersonators. Online shopping issues were the second most commonly reported in the fraud category, followed by prizes, sweepstakes, and lotteries; investment-related reports; and business and job opportunity ...

The workplace is in transition, with people considering career changes or dealing with layoffs. But as the FTC has warned for years, scammers find a way to exploit every trend – and this time they have job seekers in their sights.