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Find out the signs of a scams, what to do and where to report it. Ftc.gov/scams. Celebrate Hispanic Heritage, Stop Scams.Each year, Hispanic Heritage Month celebrates the numerous contributions that Hispanic Americans and Latinos have made to our country. This year’s theme, Esperanza: A Celebration of Hispanic Heritage and Hope, encourages us to look forward to future contributions with optimism, hope, and a sense of community.

In honor of Hispanic Heritage Month, we’ll focus on ways to come together to help spot, stop, and report frauds that target Latino communities. Today kicks off our month-long series with advice that we hope you’ll share with others on how to recognize and avoid scams.

The FTC Consumer Fraud Survey showed that Latinos are more likely to experience fraud than non-Hispanic whites. Over the past year, that probably means dealing with a scammer who pretended to be someone they’re not, like a government official, a known business, or a family member or friend. The top scam reported to the FTC in 2020 was impersonator scams like these, with nearly 500,000 reports and a median loss of $850.

Check out ftc.gov/scams for the latest advice about How To Avoid a Scam, including how to recognize four common signs of a scam. You’ll also find tips to recognize and avoid impersonators who claim to be from the Social Security Administration, the FTC, the IRS, Medicare, or another government agency.

If you were scammed, it’s important to act as soon as you realize it. First, find out what to do if you paid a scammer, gave a scammer your personal information, or if a scammer has access to your computer or phone.

Then, take a few minutes to report the scam at ReportFraud.ftc.gov. After you report it, you’ll get advice on what you can do next to recover and protect yourself.

And sharing your experience with the FTC helps us alert communities about scams we’re hearing about. The more we hear about scams, the more we can do to spread the word.

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The purpose of this blog and its comments section is to inform readers about Federal Trade Commission activity, and share information to help them avoid, report, and recover from fraud, scams, and bad business practices. Your thoughts, ideas, and concerns are welcome, and we encourage comments. But keep in mind, this is a moderated blog. We review all comments before they are posted, and we won’t post comments that don’t comply with our commenting policy. We expect commenters to treat each other and the blog writers with respect.

  • We won’t post off-topic comments, repeated identical comments, or comments that include sales pitches or promotions.
  • We won’t post comments that include vulgar messages, personal attacks by name, or offensive terms that target specific people or groups.
  • We won’t post threats, defamatory statements, or suggestions or encouragement of illegal activity.
  • We won’t post comments that include personal information, like Social Security numbers, account numbers, home addresses, and email addresses. To file a detailed report about a scam, go to ReportFraud.ftc.gov.

We don't edit comments to remove objectionable content, so please ensure that your comment contains none of the above. The comments posted on this blog become part of the public domain. To protect your privacy and the privacy of other people, please do not include personal information. Opinions in comments that appear in this blog belong to the individuals who expressed them. They do not belong to or represent views of the Federal Trade Commission.

Freyna Taphil
September 22, 2021
Hello..can i have some advice..i have a chatmate from other country he introduce his self as a top rank officer..he want me to recieve his personal valuable laggage from baird and bullion services..how can i know that this is not scam and that is true??? He said he already paid all the charges from the origin country and he said when my parcel arrived her in philippines i must fee all the charges fee from the airfort or else my parcel will be hold by and i can get it...pls i need some opinion..i give already my full details..
FTC Staff
September 29, 2021

In reply to by Freyna Taphil

This could be a scam. Sometimes scammers  meet people online, and say they will send a package with jewelry, money, electronics, or other valuable items. Then, they say you must pay fees to accept the package.

Two scammers might work together. One scammer might pretend to be your friend, and another will pretend to work with Customs, or a government agency, or an airline. The scammers might send email, text messages, or call you and put pressure on you to pay for the package. You can choose to block them, ignore them, and stop talking. You could look up the real Philippines customs agency or airline to check out your story. Or, look online for stories about package delivery scams in the Philippines.

Misom
September 27, 2021
Someone scammed me w bitcoin. I'm trying to retrieve a refund
FTC Staff
September 29, 2021

In reply to by Misom

Find out what to do if you paid a scammer, gave a scammer your personal information, or if a scammer has access to your computer or phone.

Then, please report the scam at ReportFraud.ftc.gov. After you report it, you’ll get advice on what you can do next to recover and protect yourself.