Consumer Alerts

Last year, the FTC got almost a million reports about impersonation scammers — fake government agents, pretend grandkids, bogus sweethearts, and others who took almost $2.3 billion from people across

Has the U.S. Border Patrol called you? No, they haven’t. But a scammer might have. In fact, scammers often pretend to be from government agencies to trick you into sending them money or sharing

Scammers are always thinking up ways to put a new spin on their criminal tricks. This time, they’re sending spam texts to you — from your own phone number. They’ve changed (spoofed) the caller ID to

National Consumer Protection Week (NCPW) 2022 is coming up next week, and we hope you’ll join some of the virtual events. NCPW is a time when the FTC joins with local, state, and national partners to

Every year, people report fraud, identity theft, and bad business practices to the FTC and its law enforcement partners. In 2021, 5.7 million people filed reports and described losing more than $5.8

When identity theft happens, it’s hard to know where to begin. That’s why the FTC created IdentityTheft.gov , a one-stop resource for people to report identity theft to law enforcement and to get step

In 2021, more than 95,000 people told the FTC that they’d been scammed with a con that started on social media. In fact, more than one in four people who reported to the FTC that they lost money to

If you’ve been looking for a COVID-19 test, you probably know that they are in short supply. Unfortunately, scammers love to “help” with shortages. They’ve created fake and unauthorized at-home

In the past 18 years of the National Do Not Call Registry, those of you signed up for the registry (244 million phone numbers right now) have reported millions upon millions of unwanted sales calls

Every day dedicated community advocates work to improve the lives and protect the rights of people across the country. The FTC is proud of our work with the legal services community and we are excited

Has Amazon contacted you to confirm a recent purchase you didn’t make or to tell you that your account has been hacked? According to the FTC’s new Data Spotlight, since July 2020, about one in three

Have you gotten an alarming text message about your unemployment insurance benefits from what seems to be your state workforce agency? You’re not alone. Identity thieves are targeting millions of

July is Military Consumer Month! This annual initiative highlights the FTC’s collaboration with the Department of Defense’s Office of Financial Readiness, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s

It’s never too late to find love, and lots of dating sites and apps are there to help. But scammers are out to steal your heart, too…and then steal your money.

During May, the FTC and federal and state organizations nationwide will celebrate Older Americans Month, with “Communities of Strength” as its theme. The FTC works to protect older adults year round

Scammers are doubling down on their efforts to scam people out of their money and personal information. That’s why the FTC and the National Association of Attorneys General (NAAG) are teaming up to

When it comes to scammers, nothing is sacred — including the bond between grandparent and grandchild. Lately, grandparent scammers have gotten bolder: they might even come to your door to collect

At a time when many people left jobless by the pandemic are struggling to get by, scammers reportedly are using websites that mimic government unemployment insurance (UI) benefits websites. These

Scammers are using a new trick to steal your money and personal information: a bogus COVID vaccine survey. People across the country are reporting getting emails and texts out of the blue, asking them

Earlier this year, we told you that scammers were lying and saying the FTC is sending people Coronavirus relief money. Now we’re seeing a new version of the phishing email scam that looks like it’s