The top scams of 2023 to watch for in 2024

Zach Myers
·3 min read
The top scams of 2023 to watch for in 2024

INDIANAPOLIS – According to data compiled by the Federal Trade Commission, 2023 was a very good year for scammers.

Numbers shared in the FTC’s data book show people lost roughly $10 billion to scams last year.  That’s about $1 billion more than 2022 and the most ever reported to the agency.

To put that number in perspective, with $10 billion, you could buy the Indianapolis Colts, the Indiana Pacers, the Indiana Fever, the Indianapolis Indians, the Indy Fuel, the Indy Eleven and still have a couple billion dollars left over.

Since crooks are likely to continue doing what’s working for them, it’s worth looking at the top scams from last year, as a warning about what to look for in 2024.  According to the FTC, these were the top scams of 2023:

  • Imposter scams. Imposter scams remained the top fraud category, with reported losses of $2.7 billion. These scams include people pretending to be your bank’s fraud department, the government, a relative in distress, a well-known business, or a technical support expert.

  • Investment scams. While investment-related scams were the fourth most-reported fraud category, losses in this category grew. People reported median losses of $7.7K – up from $5K in 2022.

  • Social media scams. Scams starting on social media accounted for the highest total losses at $1.4 billion – an increase of 250 million from 2022. But scams that started by a phone call caused the highest per-person loss ($1,480 average loss).

  • Payment methods. How did scammers prefer that people pay? With bank transfers and payments, which accounted for the highest losses ($1.86 billion). Cryptocurrency is a close second ($1.41 billion reported in losses).

  • Losses by age. Of people who reported their age, younger adults (20-29) reported losing money more often than older adults (70+). However, when older adults lost money, they lost the most.

As crooks keep getting better at scamming victims out of their money, the FTC is also making several moves to crack down on fraud and other criminal activity.  These are some of the efforts and campaigns currently underway at the FTC:

  • Leading the largest-ever crackdown on illegal telemarketing: The FTC joined more than 100 federal and state law enforcement partners nationwide, including the attorneys general from all 50 states and the District of Columbia in Operation Stop Scam Calls, a crackdown on illegal telemarketing calls involving more than 180 actions targeting operations responsible for billions of calls to U.S. consumers.

  • Proposing a ban on impersonator fraud: The FTC is in the final stages of a rulemaking process targeting business and government impersonation scams.

  • Cracking Down on Investment Schemes: The FTC has brought multiple cases against investment and business opportunity schemes, including Wealthpress, Blueprint to Wealth, Traffic and Funnels, Automators and Ganadores.

  • Confronting Emerging Forms of Fraud: The FTC has taken steps to listen to consumers and build knowledge and tools to fight emerging frauds. For example, the FTC announced a challenge in 2023 to help promote the development of ideas to protect consumers from the misuse of artificial intelligence-enabled voice cloning for fraud and other harms.

  • Stepping up CAN-SPAM Enforcement: The FTC is using its authority under the CAN-SPAM Act to rein in unlawful actions, including in cases against Publishers Clearing House and Experian.

  • Reaching Every Community: The FTC has expanded its ability to hear directly from consumers in multiple languages through the Consumer Sentinel Network.

The FTC has a wide array of tips and recommendations on how to spot and avoid scams on their Consumer Advice website.  The agency urges anyone who is the victim of a scam to report it at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.  Those reports help the agency to take action against bad actors.

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