FTC reports sharp rise in consumer fraud losses for 2024; Here's the top 5 scams
WASHINGTON, D.C. (WWLP)– The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has released its report of the consumer fraud reported to them in 2024.
The FTC received 2.6-million fraud reports with $12.5-billion in losses, up from $2.5-billion in 2023. People lost over $3-billion to scams that started online, compared to approximately $1.9 billion lost to more 'traditional' contact methods like calls, texts, or emails.
Federal unemployment claims jump in Mass.
The information from the reports is collected and released in the FTC's annual report, the 2024 Data Book.
The top five frauds reported to the FTC were:
Imposters
Online shopping and negative reviews
Business and job opportunities
Investments
Internet services
Key points taken from the report include:
The biggest scam losses happened by bank transfer or payment. Among all payment methods, people reported losing more money through a bank transfer or payment ($2 billion), followed by cryptocurrency at $1.4 billion.
Investment scams led to big losses. A majority (79%) of people who reported an investment-related scam lost money, with a median loss of over $9,000. The $5.7 billion losses in this category are up about $1 billion from last year.
People reported losing money more often when contacted through social media. Most people (70%) reported a loss when contacted on a social media platform — and lost more money overall ($1.9 billion).
Job scams and fake employment agency losses jumped — a lot. Between 2020-2024, reports nearly tripled and losses grew from $90 million to $501 million.
Younger people lost money more often. People aged 20-29 reported losing money more often than people 70+. But when older adults lost money, they lost far more than any other age group.
The FTC's information on fraud reported in Massachusetts can be found at this link.
WWLP-22News, an NBC affiliate, began broadcasting in March 1953 to provide local news, network, syndicated, and local programming to western Massachusetts. Watch the 22News Digital Edition weekdays at 4 p.m. on WWLP.com.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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