The Club Publication 03/18/2024

The Club PUBlication 

Report shows which scams had the biggest impact in 2023
by: Jennifer Bullock Posted: Mar 14, 2024 / 06:30 PM EDT Updated: Mar 14, 2024 / 06:11 PM EDT

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) – On the heels of National Consumer Protection Week, the Better Business Bureau of Central Ohio released its Scam Tracker Risk Report, which highlighted how scams are carried out, who is targeted by them and which ones have the biggest impact each year. “We know that scams are a major problem, scammers are very smart, and really, education is the best way to protect ourselves and avoid falling victim to scams,” said Judy Dollison, President of the BBB of Central Ohio.

According to the report, the riskiest type of scam for consumers in 2023 was investment scams, including those involving cryptocurrency.
Dollison said more than 80% of people targeted by this scam type reported losing money. Keeping it consistent in the second spot — employment scams. In fact, the BBB said reports increased 54.2% from the year before. At number three, dropping from the top spot for the first time since 2019, online purchase or shopping scams.

“Online shopping is, like you said, consistently in the top three of scams in terms of exposure,” said Dollison. Last year, the BBB said 41.9% of scams reported to its Scam Tracker were online purchase scams, and 82.6% reported losing money to them. “You are either dealing with a fake retailer who doesn’t exist at all, whose name you don’t even recognize, but they have a really great website and it looks like a legitimate product,” Dollison said. “Or, they’re an imposter of a legitimate company but they have stolen their names and logos, they’ve created a site that looks like a brand that you might know, but it’s not, it’s a scammer.” Dollison said any business conducted online is more susceptible to money loss. So, consumers should do research before they buy.

“Just make sure that it is a legitimate retailer before you put in your credit card information and make purchases,” said Dollison. “You want to look at the website to make sure there are no misspellings in the URL. And if something seems too good to be true, it probably is. So, if you see a really good price on something, if it just doesn’t seem right, I would avoid it.”