The Better Business Bureau has an online tool “Scam Tracker” that collects and presents scam data in a searchable online “heat map,” showing users the number and types of scams and hoaxes being reported in their communities.
It is sophisticated enough to track that information down to the zip code. The data is derived from reports provided by consumers and businesses.
Using that information, the BBB develops it’s annual “Scam Tracker Risk Report”, an in-depth look at how scams are perpetrated, who is being targeted, which scams have the greatest impact and how scams affect different age groups.
The report was released last week. It showed online shopping scams top the list of scams that pose the most significant risk to consumers, impacting the most age groups.
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The new findings highlight scammers’ latest ploys to steal money, identity and marketplace confidence from consumers. This knowledge will be the public’s most effective weapon in the fight against fraud.
Among all age groups, online purchase scams were the riskiest type of scam for the second year in a row, as people continue to adjust to life in the COVID-19 pandemic.
Online scams were more likely to result in a reported monetary loss than scams committed in person or via phone. Nearly three-quarters (74.9%) of the people who reported an online shopping scam lost money.
The report shows that scammers expanded their use of cryptocurrency to…
