Consumers lost nearly $8.8 billion to scams in 2022, representing a 30% increase from the previous year, according to Federal Trade Commission data released today. Investment scams accounted for more than 40% of losses last year, at $3.8 billion. The second highest reported loss amount came from imposter scams, with losses of $2.6 billion.
The FTC received fraud reports from 2.4 million consumers last year, the agency said. Imposter scams were the most commonly reported fraud, followed by online shopping scams. Other widely reported scams included prizes, sweepstakes and lotteries; investment-related reports; and business and job opportunities. More than $1.2 billion was lost to social media scams. However, phone scams had the highest per-person loss at a median of $1,400.
