FTC sees swell of fraudsters impersonating agency officials
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The latest spike in fraud spotted by the Federal Trade Commission caught the agency’s attention for a notable reason.
The FTC issued a warning that scammers are pretending to be affiliated with the regulator to steal consumers’ money.
The FTC reiterated through a news release that it will never tell consumers to move their money to “protect” it.
“The FTC will never send consumers to a Bitcoin ATM, tell them to go buy gold bars, or demand they withdraw cash and take it to someone in person,” officials said. “It will also never contact consumers to demand money, threaten to arrest or deport them, or promise a prize.
“If someone claims to work for the FTC and makes any of these demands or threats, they are a scammer,” officials continued.
The agency said it has received many calls directly from consumers reporting that scammers used the names of real FTC employees to convince them to move, transfer, send or wire money.
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The regulator indicated the median loss to FTC impersonators has increased from $3,000 in 2019 to $7,000 in 2024.
The agency has issued guidance on how to spot and avoid these FTC impersonation scams and asks people to report them at ReportFraud.ftc.gov in English or ReporteFraude.ftc.gov in Spanish.
