Americans are still falling for romantic and cryptic scams. The Federal Commission of Trade reported today a 25% increase year by year in fraud losses in 2024.
The amount of money lost from fraud reached $ 12.5 billion last year, the agency says from $ 10 billion last year. “One in three people who reported fraud said they were lost money (from one to four” in 2023, FTC added to a blog post.
The number of fraud reports that FTC received from consumers, to 2.6 million, did not increase from last year. Instead, the fraudsters became more successful in stealing people’s money.
“The percentage of people who reported to lose money in a fraud or fraud increased with double digits,” FTC said. “In 2023, 27% of people who reported a fraud said they lost money, while in 2024, that figure increased to 38%.”
(Credit: FTC)
Many of the losses, at $ 5.7 billion, occurred through investment fraud, which often cheat people in buying false cryptocurrency or precious metals or investing in a real estate project. Fraud, even known by the name “Pork butchers”, can be particularly effective because fraudsters spend weeks or months building relationships with future goals through social media or meeting applications before asking them to invest in the fraudulent scheme.
“A majority (79%) of people who reported an investment -related fraud lost money, with an average loss of over $ 9,000,” ftc noted.
Another successful scheme is “imposition frauds”, which made up $ 2.95 billion fraud loss in 2024. Imposing fraud, which may include falsification of government agencies and companies, are also listed as the most reported fraud.
FTC adds: “For the second year in a row, the email was the most common way that consumers reported being contacted by fraudsters. Telephone calls were the second most commonly reported contact method for fraud in 2024, followed by text messages. “
But for users who lost money in fraud, fraud first started online, whether through social media, an online site or online advertising. “People lost over $ 3 billion for fraud that started online, compared to about $ 1.9 billion lost in the most” traditional “contact methods such as calls, texts or email,” the agency added.
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The losses were calculated using data from the Sentinel Customer Network of FTC, which receives reports from Reportfraud.ftc.gov and other state and local agencies. The commission did not say why fraud losses are increasing, except to note that “fraudulent tactics are constantly evolving”.
But other investigators, including FBI, say many of these frauds come from organized Chinese crime groups working in Asia. The degree of activities has increased to the point that Chinese unions are building large compounds in Cambodia and Myanmar full of dedicated workers to perpetuate online fraud, according to Erin West, a former California district who is seeking governments and companies to destroy.
“They will work 17 hours a day to deceive Americans (and others all over the world) and to steal all their money,” she told a Congress Committee in September. “In Cambodia, towers filled with human trafficked victims are forced to carry out this filthy business, protected by the disruption of the rampant corruption that is raised at the head of the government.”
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About Michael kan
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