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Cybercriminals continue to take hundreds of millions from Americans through text messaging scams, according to data released by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).
The latest FTC report for 2024 says Americans lost $470 million to text message scams across the year. The real number is likely higher than that as many text message scams go unreported.
The amount lost in 2024 is five times higher than it was in 2020. FTC data says there was $86 million lost in 2020 with the number rising in 2021 to $131m. 2022 saw the biggest jump to $327m, with the following year then hitting $373m.
Reports of scams themselves have dropped over this time period with 2021 peaking at 378,000. 2024 saw 247,000 reports, a slight rise on 2023’s 231,000 reported scams.
According to the FTC, the most common scam in 2024 was around fake package deliveries where a scammer sends alerts about issues with the delivery of a non-existent item. Often these scams will impersonate a retailer or shipping company to fool the victim.
Another common scam includes fake job opportunities where you’re asked to do a test to prove your experience before being asked to provide personal details or to invest money.
Other common scams include fake fraud cases from the user’s bank and wrong number scams where people claim to know the person to encourage the victim to donate money.
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To protect yourself from these scams, always be careful with what information you provide over text message, and don’t click on any links from unexpected messages. If you’re not expecting a message, contact the company or person through another means to ensure it’s real.
For more tips on how to stay safe on your phone, be sure to read our full guide on how to protect yourself from scam text messages.
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