Every person seems to deal with scam texts, emails or phone calls, but are you aware of which companies people report scammers impersonate most often.
Back in May of this year the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) reported their new data spotlight showing Best Buy/Geek Squad, Amazon, and PayPal to be the top three companies most impersonated.
This data was compiled from consumers in 2023, who submitted about 52,000 reports about scammers impersonating Best Buy or its Geek Squad tech support brand, followed by about 34,000 reports about scammers impersonating Amazon. PayPal was the third-most impersonated company with about 10,000 reports from consumers, said the FTC.
When it comes to the amount lost, though, consumers reported losing far more money to more money to scammers impersonating Microsoft and Publishers Clearing House than any other companies. Consumers reported losing a total of $60 million to Microsoft impersonation scams and $49 million to Publishers Clearing House impersonation scams, according to FTC officials.
The FTC said, they recently it finalized its new rule on government and business impersonation, which gives the agency stronger tools to combat and deter scammers who impersonate government agencies and businesses, enabling the FTC to file federal court cases seeking to get money back to injured consumers and civil penalties against rule violators.
The data spotlight also outlines the most common forms of payment people reported scammers used to steal money in 2023. Scammers requested a variety of payment methods, including cryptocurrency and bank transfers, which were the top methods used by investment scammers, according to the data spotlight.
Other frequently reported payment methods included payment apps or services and gift cards. The top payment apps and services people reported paying with were PayPal, CashApp and Zelle, while the most reported gift cards were Apple and Target, said the FTC.
The FTC works to promote competition and protect and educate consumers and will never demand money, make threats, tell you to transfer money, or promise you a prize.
Learn more about consumer topics at consumer.ftc.gov, or report fraud, scams, and bad business practices at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.