Various types of fraud cost U.S. consumers nearly $1.48 billion last year, up 38 percent from 2017, based on complaints to the federal government.

The information comes from the Federal Trade Commission’s Consumer Sentinel Network, which is where the FTC stores reports from consumers about problems they experience in the marketplace. Law enforcement officials use the secure online database to identify trends, questionable business practices, and targets.

Last year, the database (known as Sentinel) accepted almost 3 million consumer reports, with nearly half dealing with some type of fraud. The FTC categorized the reports into 29 main groups in its Consumer Sentinel Network Data Book 2018, which was released in February.

Scammers posing as government representatives defrauded U.S. consumers out of millions, with that category surpassing debt collection cons as the most widely reported type of fraud in 2018. A common scheme involved telling people, typically via phone, that there was some problem with their Social Security numbers, such as that the numbers had been suspended, so that consumers would disclose their Social Security numbers or pay money to “reactivate” them. 

These plots were effective: Government imposter scams made up almost half of the 535,417 total imposter scam reports last year, according to the FTC analysis. Other types of imposter scams included romance scams, a relative in distress, a well-known business, or a technical support expert. Consumers reported losing almost $488 million to imposter scams — more than any other type of fraud. 

Drilling down to the specific categories, imposter scams accounted for 18 percent of reports. Debt collection reports, which had topped consumer complaints for three years, made up 16 percent of reports, followed by identity theft — often credit card fraud — at 15 percent.

Breaking down the results by state, California ranked 17th, with 634 fraud and similar reports for every 100,000 residents. However, given the state’s size, the raw number of fraud reports topped every other state at more than 250,500. California also ranked among the top states for reported identity theft.

Shifting the focus from most common to most damaging, the largest losses in terms of median dollar amounts were for: 

• Mortgage foreclosure relief and debt management fraud ($1,377)
• Business or job opportunity fraud ($1,304)
• Foreign money offers/counterfeit check scams ($1,214)

And no one is immune from these persistent criminals. People in their 20s said they lost money in 43 percent of their reports to the FTC. By comparison, people 70 and older reported losing money less than 15 percent of the time, but when they did, they lost much larger amounts.

Have you been the target of fraud or other consumer scams? File a consumer complaint with the FTC. 

If you’ve faced loss due to fraud, as a quarter of last year’s FTC fraud reports indicated, contact Keller Grover for a free consultation. We can help you understand your options and steps you should take. In more than 25 years litigating fraud and employment cases, Keller Grover has recovered billions for its clients.