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The risk of being scammed by supposedly government or company personnel has increased in recent months, as it often starts with a routine message or call that quickly becomes an alert and an emergency.
Has anyone told you to move or transfer money to protect it?
Warning! Take a moment to verify the information and confirm what you are being told, as you may be about to be scammed and lose your money.
According to Federal Trade Commission data, only 5 percent of people who are scammed file a report, said Kati Daffan, deputy director of the Federal Trade Commission's Division of Marketing Practices, during a briefing held by Ethnic Media Services.
From January to June 2024, around 360 thousand reports have been filed with more than 1.3 billion dollars in losses, this is only surpassed by investment scams, the average loss is 800 dollars.
Focusing on the scams that have been generated by supposed personnel pretending to be from government agencies or well-known businesses, the figures show a large increase in the last year.
The scammers' tactics have changed; now it's done as if it were a team effort involving several people and institutions; for example: they contact people by phone or text to clarify a purchase, then they make you contact a supposed government or banking agency and convince you that everything is real so that you give them money.
With the feeling of urgency they make you believe that you are safeguarding your money but in reality you move it to a fictitious account, that is how it currently works, said Kati Daffan.
Emma Fletcher, an investigator for the Federal Trade Commission, explained that many scammers pose as government agents in an attempt to reach an agreement on debts owed. In many cases, there is no debt, but they fake it and people may believe it.
"If we can prevent a scam, it is the best way to help our community," that is why a lot of information is made available to the community, to avoid being scammed.
It is important to file a complaint if you have been scammed, as each complaint helps to gather information to conduct an investigation, analysis and then generate information that helps prevent more people from being scammed.
You may be interested in: Telephone fraud: it can happen to all of us, detect it and avoid it!
