Text scammers made more money than ever in 2024

WXIN/WTTV -- If it seems like scam texts have simply become part of daily life, there could be good reason for that: crooks are making a lot of money off them.




Just last year, according to the Federal Trade Commission, text scammers took a record $470 million from their victims. That's more than five times the $86 million they made in 2020.




And as the dollar losses have gone up, the number of scam reports has gone down, suggesting that crooks are getting better at getting money from their victims.




Most of the successful scams going around fall into five categories. They include package delivery scams, fake job offer scams, fake fraud alert scams, toll road scams and wrong number scams. Wrong number scams usually involve a scammer pretending to text the wrong number.  When you reply to tell them they've reached the wrong number, they'll try to strike up a conversation that could eventually lead to you giving away more information than you should.




As all this is happening, the FTC recently found that when people get a text, even from an unknown number, they open it 98% of the time. That won't necessarily get you in trouble if you don't click any links or call any numbers contained in the text--but 98% is still pretty good odds for the scammers.




Here are some tips from the FTC on how to help stop text scams:

• Forward messages to 7726 (SPAM). This helps your wireless provider spot and block similar messages.





• Report it on either the Apple iMessages app or Google Messages app.





• Report it to the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.

How can you avoid text scams?

• Never click on links or respond to unexpected texts. If you think it might be legit, contact the company using a phone number or website you know is real. Don't use the information in the text message.





• Filter unwanted texts before they reach you. There are a few ways to block them.

To learn more about how to spot and avoid scams - and how to recover money if you've paid a scammer - visit ftc.gov/scams. Learn more about text scams at ftc.gov/textscams.  



via: https://fox59.com/news/text-scammers-made-more-money-than-ever-in-2024/