THE FBI has issued an urgent scam warning after a list revealed the US states where residents lost up to $4,858 to cyber criminals.
Investigators said the pandemic and a rise in e-commerce were to blame for the nearly 20 per cent jump in fraud and scam claims.
According to Wicked Reports data from 2020, cyber fraud cost victims over $5 trillion globally – which is more than the GDP of most countries.
In the first year of the pandemic, e-commerce sales in the US shot up by more than 32 per cent, totalling over $790billion as business and customers turned to online shopping amid lockdowns.
Buying online can be risky, so before delving in, try to make sure your product comes from a trusted seller or buyer, which can be found from reviews and ratings.
But be careful – sometimes reviews can also be faked, so do your homework and only buy from trusted establishments or vendors.
The fraud economy is vast, complex, and full of skilled operators who drive it.
A break down of state-by-state data from the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaints Center (IC3) showed that non-payment and non-delivery scams were the most popular among cyber crims.
Non-payment scams are when a seller sends an item or performs a service before payment, which is never received. Non-delivery scams are when a customer pays for a product that never arrives.
Sadly, these scams rose by 76 per cent from 2019 to 2020, costing some 100,000 Americans…
