Scam phone calls logged huge totals and losses nationwide and in Connecticut in Fiscal Year 2021 (Oct. 1, 2020, to Sept. 30, 2021) with a major spike in COVID-related complaints, according to the Federal Trade Commission’s newly released biennial report on the Do Not Call Registry. Since the pandemic began, the FTC said, it logged more than 18,000 COVID-related Do Not Call complaints.
In FY21 consumers filed more than 5 million complaints. Imposter scam and warranty protection scam calls heading the list, the report said, followed by calls for reducing debt and medical needs and prescriptions. The scam calls came overwhelmingly via robocalls, as opposed to live telemarketing, the FTC said.
Social Security data showed consumer losses increased 85 percent year-over-year, with $2 billion in total losses.
More than 244 million consumers placed their numbers on the Registry over the past two years, including 2.8 million in FY21.
The FTC also proposed a new rule to fight government and business impersonation fraud, “a pernicious and prevalent problem grown worse during the pandemic,” the agency said.
“Scammers capitalize on confusion and concerns around shifts in the economy stemming from the pandemic,” the FTC said.
Since the pandemic began, COVID-specific scam reports included 12,491 complaints about government impersonation and…
