OKLAHOMA CITY – More than 20,000 Oklahomans complained to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) last year that they were victims of scams which defrauded them of millions of dollars.
Fraud reports to the FTC in 2021 from Oklahomans numbered 22,036 and the total loss was calculated at $26.9 million. The median loss was $410, but some incidents were much costlier as the average loss was $1,220. the FTC reported.
A little over 200 of those fraud reports were filed from Lawton, and 224 were filed from Wichita Falls, Texas. Fraud complaints from Oklahoma City totaled 2,238; from Tulsa, 1,525.
Fully half of all fraud reports filed from Oklahoma fell in just two categories: imposter scams, and online shopping and negative reviews. The third-highest category were complaints about prizes, sweepstakes and lotteries, records reflect.
Nationwide, almost 2.8 million consumers filed fraud reports with the FTC last year, and total losses were calculated at almost $5.9 billion – an increase of more than 70% over the previous year, the agency said.
Once again, the most common complaints were about imposter scams and online shopping scams. Prizes, sweepstakes and lotteries; internet services; and business/job opportunities rounded out the top five categories of fraud.
Losses nationwide from imposter scams nearly doubled, from $1.2 billion in 2020 to $2.3 billion in 2021, and online shopping accounted for approximately $392 million in consumer losses last year, up from $246 million the year before.
The FTC’s Consumer Sentinel Network is a database that receives reports directly from consumers, as well as from federal, state and local law enforcement agencies, the Better Business Bureau, industry members, and non-profit organizations. Twenty-five states contribute to Sentinel.
According to the FTC, Sentinel received more than 5.7 million reports in 2021. Those included not only the 2.8 million fraud reports but also nearly 1.4 million reports of identity theft (including 6,850 from Oklahoma) and complaints about other consumer issues such as problems with credit bureaus, banks and lenders.
The FTC said it uses reports it receives as the starting point for many of its law enforcement investigations, and shares these reports with approximately 2,800 federal, state, local and international law enforcement professionals.
49 AGs call on FTC to
target impersonation scams
Oklahoma Attorney General John O’Connor recently joined a bipartisan coalition of 49 attorneys general in calling on the Federal Trade Commission to adopt a national rule that targets impersonation scams.
In a February 22 letter to the chair of the FTC, the 49 attorneys general raised concerns about the plethora of impersonation scams targeting consumers and the current lack of a national rule to outlaw these fraudulent acts and protect Americans.
Impersonation scams are “a pervasive problem” that adversely affects Oklahoma consumers, small businesses and charities, O’Connor said. “The numbers of consumer complaints regarding impersonation scams received by specific attorneys general can vary, but they illustrate that impersonation scams are a serious problem,” the attorneys general wrote.
These scams include:
Ÿ impersonation of government entities. Fraudsters claim to be from or affiliated with a government agency to persuade victims of the urgency to provide payment to obtain licensing or certificates in document preparation or regulatory compliance scams.
Ÿ business impersonations. Fraudsters claim to be working directly for a genuine business or as a third party endorsed by the business. Common examples include tech scams in which the imposters claim they are contacting the victim on behalf of companies such as Microsoft or Apple to assist with a ransomware or technology issue.
Ÿ person-to-person deceptions that involve grandparent scams, romance scams and others who use personal information to make a connection with victims. Whether claiming a grandchild is in urgent need of money, or creating a fake profile to gain the trust of someone on a social media or dating site, these impersonation scams account for thousands of complaints to attorneys general each year.
Though the methods may vary, impersonation scams cause injury to consumers who lose money, drain resources from regulators tasked with protecting the public, and cause confusion and loss of trust in government agencies and services, the attorneys general pointed out.
Also, while the volume of consumer complaints filed with attorneys general are “alarming,” they wrote, consumer complaints “do not fully capture the reality” of the number of imposter scam victims. “One of the most nefarious aspects of impersonation scams is that many victims never become aware they were defrauded.” Attorneys general often find that consumer complaint numbers are “the tip of the iceberg” in terms of actual victims impacted by specific imposter activities.
“There is a pressing need for FTC rulemaking to address the scourge of impersonation scams impacting consumers across the United States,” the AGs wrote in their letter. “A national rule that encompasses and outlaws such commonly experienced scams discussed [in our letter] would assist attorneys general and their partners in reducing consumer harm, maximizing consumer benefits, and holding bad actors to account.”
In signing the letter, O’Connor joined attorneys general of Arkansas, Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico, Texas, several other states, the District of Columbia, and Guam.