Over $1.5 Billion Lost to Imposter Scams in 2021

NEW YORK, Nov. 24, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Have you received a suspicious text or phone call saying there was a problem with your online order, your package is delayed, there's suspicious activity on one of your accounts or a retailer needs to refund you? You're not alone. In fact, you may be one of the many Americans who have fallen victim or prey to the "business imposter scam"—America's #1 phone scam in 2021, according to a recent analysis from BeenVerified. 

BeenVerified analyzed over a quarter million phone spam complaints across all 50 states in 2021. Our analysis found more than 17% of complaints were related to business imposter scams. Scammers impersonating employees of Amazon, Apple, CashApp and others have grown increasingly smarter and bolder, even going so far as to claim to be calling from fraud prevention departments.

The goal of these scammers: After alerting consumers to "fraudulent activity" on their account, they attempt to gain remote access to a consumer's phone or computer to purportedly help with a refund. Upon obtaining sensitive personal information, they raid bank accounts or make phony purchases—often in the form of untraceable gift cards—in the customer's name.

With the holiday shopping season upon us, BeenVerified anticipates more victims will be targeted by these imposter scams, as well as a host of other ongoing threats.

Top Five Consumer Phone Scams in 2021:

Business Imposter Scams in 2021

Amazon and Apple are the top impersonated businesses for bogus charge complaints.

How to Identify a Spam Text, Call or Email:

When you receive a suspicious text, call or email:

According to a recent report from the Federal Trade Commission, consumers lost $1.6 billion to impersonation scams from January through September 2021, with a median individual loss of $1,000.

Check out BeenVerified's full list of consumer tips.

About BeenVerified

BeenVerified's mission is to help people discover, understand and use public data in their everyday lives. BeenVerified and our associated websites curate dozens of public data sources and proprietary data sets to give people easy and affordable access to billions of public records.

Contact:

Kerry Sherin
Consumer Advocate
kerry@beenverified.com

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SOURCE BeenVerified