Spring brings the Annual Consumer Sentinel Network Data Book for 2024. Chockablock with valuable information, the Data Book shows that U.S. consumers reported losing $12.5 billion to fraud in 2024—a 25% increase from the previous year. It also shows that consumers reported losing more money to investment scams—$5.7 billion—than any other category in 2024. You can also find breakouts by state and metropolitan area as well as the top scams.
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The Data Book includes a breakout of reports by category of scam or the product or service offered to the consumers. You can find the full list of categories here, recently updated as of last October. Keeping these categories concise and current enables us and our members to better understand the data.
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The FTC has added new data partners this winter. We have welcomed Prosperity Bank, Southern California Edison, Mega Millions, The Toll Roads, and the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles. These new entities provide quality consumer reports in areas such as bank and utility impostors, lottery scams, and unsolicited emails and texts to consumers, such as toll scams.
Sentinel data shows an increase in toll scams. Scammers are pretending to be tolling agencies from coast to coast and sending texts demanding money for allegedly unpaid tolls. The FTC provides information on how consumers can learn more about toll scams as well as how to spot and avoid text scams at ftc.gov/textscams.
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It is possible to set up a recurring search in Sentinel by using the Scheduled Search option. To do so, simply run a search, and then click the wrench icon. Click the Scheduled Search entry to have Sentinel automatically do the search for you on a periodic basis.
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We welcome all the new Sentinel members from the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration. TIGTA, which uses Sentinel to stop IRS impostors, now has the highest number of active Sentinel users after the FTC. Training information for new members appears at the end of this newsletter. |
Our sincere congratulations to Sentinel member Sheryl Harris! Sheryl is the Director of the Cuyahoga County Department of Consumer Affairs in Ohio and recipient of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection Partner Award. Sheryl regularly carries out creative and novel ideas to combat scammers. Her multi-jurisdiction Scam Squad alerts Cuyahoga County residents about scams, encourages reporting, and shares those reports with the agency best suited to investigate them. Well done, Sheryl!
Want to learn more Sentinel searching tips like the one above? The next online Sentinel training session will be on Thursday, March 27th at 12:00 EST; the following one will be on Wednesday, April 30th at 12:00 EST. Please contact sentinel@ftc.gov to register or find out about future monthly sessions.
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