Data from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) shows that Best Buy/Geek Squad, Amazon, and PayPal are the companies people report scammers impersonating most often.
A newly released data spotlight shows that in 2023, consumers “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.”
When it comes to the amount lost, though, consumers “reported losing far 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.”
The FTC recently 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 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.”
The Federal Trade Commission works “to promote competition and protect and educate consumers.”
The FTC will never demand money, “make threats, tell you to transfer money, or promise you a prize.”
The Federal Trade Commission is an independent agency of the United States government whose principal mission is “the enforcement of civil antitrust law and the promotion of consumer protection.”
The FTC shares jurisdiction over federal civil antitrust law enforcement with the Department of Justice Antitrust Division.
