TULSA, Okla. — New Federal Trade Commission data shows consumers reported losing more than $12.5 billion to fraud in 2024, which represents a 25% increase over the prior year.
Scammers reaching out through calls, texts and emails with alluring promises of prize winnings or frightening threats to intimidate people into parting with their hard-earned cash, personal information, passwords or financial information.
Loretta reached out to 2 News when scammers recently tried to trick her into paying a phony toll bill to warn others not to be fooled by the fraudsters threats.
She said they claimed, "they were going to suspend my license register, take me to court, maybe my credit would be bad."
Consumer advocate, Jennifer Jolley told 2 News scammers target people when they're busy.
"That is the ploy, the plot, that is the scam in and of itself," Jolley said. "Come at you when you're at your busiest. Create a sense of urgency, like, do this now or else. They're trying to get you to reveal personal information when you're the most susceptible. Things like banking details, social security numbers, passwords, or even just get you in a busy time where you click on a site or link that puts malware or ransomware onto your device. So, best thing to do from now on, assume anything unsolicited and with that sense of urgency is a scam."
Each year, the Federal Trade Commission complies data from the nation as a whole to identify trends in consumer fraud.
It even breaks down consumer fraud complaints by age, number of reports, reported losses and most common types fraud reported by state.
If you are a victim of consumer fraud, report it to:
- The Federal Trade Commission
- Local police
- Oklahoma's Attorney General's Office Consumer Protection Unit
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