Americans Lose Over $100 Million To Pandemic Scams Thus Far
By: Jim Stickley and Tina Davis
August 27, 2020
During a time when so many questions about coronavirus run rampant, one thing is for sure: cybercriminals of all kinds are making money off the pandemic. The FTC (Federal Trade Commission) recently announced that already this year, the price tag for Americans caught up in fraudulent pandemic schemes is $118 million, as of this writing. Since there are still several months left to the year and the coronavirus is still going strong, estimates of the total loss by year-end have yet to be made. A spokesperson for the National Consumers League, a consumer advocacy group, believes the reported millions in losses are underrated since “…fraud is historically an under-reported crime.”
Whether understated or not, the FTC also finds that U.S. consumers reported 121,466 fraudulent acts with the median cost of $270 per instance. Victims of pandemic fraud find that at a time when money is tight and fears are many, lures for cures, PPE that never arrives, and help filing for unemployment are just a few of the fraudulent schemes being played. The FTC finds the top five scam categories are online shopping, travel and vacation, credit cards, financial institutions, and text messages.
The Department of Justice reports first seeing coronavirus scams appear in April of this year. They say an effort by police and businesses led to shutting down hundreds of fraudulent websites exploiting the pandemic. In addition, PYMNTS also reports in April, account takeover crimes were up 347% and shipping fraud increased by 391% from 2018 to 2019. According to their findings, the skyrocketing numbers took place even before coronavirus was the hot topic. That’s not great news for consumers, anywhere.
Trying to keep things real at a time when cybercrime is at historic levels may not be easy, but it can be done. Tips from law enforcement and consumer advocates can help mitigate the risks of pandemic fraud.
- Any type of contact regarding coronavirus should be verified before acting.
- Never click on links or open attachments in emails from unknown sources.
- Run anti-virus software regularly and install anti-malware solutions.
- Carefully check the URL spelling, especially for those websites offering Covid-related information and products. Hackers can “spoof” a website by using a look-alike URL that leads to a look-alike web page. Once on the fake page, account and credit card numbers, passwords and other sensitive information can be stolen.