Consumers reported losing $1.48 billion last year to scamsters, fraudsters and their ilk, up 38% on the previous year, according to a new report from the Federal Trade Commission. If all scams were reported to the FTC, experts say, the real number would be even higher.
‘If you get a call out of the blue from someone claiming to be from a government agency like the Social Security Administration or IRS asking you for personal information or money, it’s a scam.’ —Andrew Smith, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection Many scam artists are successfully persuading members of the public to pay them, not by credit card or wire transfer, but by gift cards, reloadable credit cards, store cards or even iTunes AAPL, +1.05% vouchers, the FTC says.
“If you get a call out of the blue from someone claiming to be from a government agency like the Social Security Administration or IRS asking you for personal information or money, it’s a scam,” said Andrew Smith, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, in a statement. “You should hang up immediately and report it to the FTC at ftc.gov/complaint.”
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