Erie County residents are reporting slightly less fraud and identity theft so far in 2022 than they did during the same period last year.

Imposter scams are the most commonly reported type of fraud in the county. This is when a criminal calls, texts or emails you, pretending to be a law enforcement officer or someone else in authority.

They say something like you owe money to the Internal Revenue Service, your computer has been infected or a loved one has been jailed. To resolve the urgent problem, you need to send payment, usually by gift cards or wire transfer.

Nationwide, this type of scam cost Americans $2.3 billion in 2021, the Federal Trade Commission reported. In Erie County, 332 people reported imposter scams to the FTC between Jan. 1-Sept. 30, 2022.

It's more than double the second-most commonly reported type of fraud in the county, online shopping and negative reviews (141 reports). That's when a scammer either creates a fake shopping website or a fake review on a real website to get a refund.

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Other commonly reported frauds in Erie County include prizes, sweepstakes and lotteries (68 reports), internet services (60 reports), and telephone and mobile services (36 reports).

Overall, the FTC received 1,471 fraud reports from Erie County residents during the first nine months of 2022, a rate of 541 per 100,000 residents. It's a bit lower than the 1,872 reports and rate of 688 per 100,000 the county had during the same period of 2021.

How can you reduce your risk of fraud? Here are some tips from the FTC:

• Block unwanted calls and text messages. Take steps to block unwanted calls and to filter unwanted text messages.

• Don’t give your personal or financial information in response to a request that you didn’t expect. Honest organizations won’t call, email, or text to ask for your personal information, like your Social Security, bank account, or credit card numbers.

• Resist the pressure to act immediately. Honest businesses will give you time to make a decision. Anyone who pressures you to pay or give them your personal information is a scammer.

• Know how scammers tell you to pay. Never pay someone who insists you pay with cryptocurrency, a wire transfer service like Western Union or MoneyGram, or a gift card. And never deposit a check and send money back to someone.

• Stop and talk to someone you trust. Before you do anything else, tell someone — a friend, a family member, a neighbor — what happened. Talking about it could help you realize it’s a scam.

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Erie County residents are also reporting slightly less identity theft so far in 2022, according to the FTC. A total of 397 reports have been filled out, a rate of 146 per 100,000.

It compares to 463 reports, a rate of 170 per 100,000, during the first nine months of 2021.

The most commonly reported type of identity theft in the county this year has been bank fraud (164 reports). There are many types of bank fraud, including using someone's stolen identity to open a bank account and using a skimmer device to steal their bank information when they use an automated teller.

Other commonly reported types of identity theft in the county include credit card fraud (105 reports), "other" identity theft (100 reports), government documents or benefits fraud (36 reports), and employment or tax-related fraud (26 reports).

How can you reduce your risk of identity theft? Here are two tips from the FTC:

• Protect your information. Shred documents before you throw them out, provide your Social Security number only when you must, and use strong online passwords (such as a random combination of letters, numbers and symbols).

• Read your monthly statements and check your credit. You should recognize what’s there. Once a year, get your credit report for free from AnnualCreditReport.com or 1-877-322-8228. If you see something you don’t recognize, you will be able to deal with it.

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If you have been a fraud victim, you can report it online at https://reportfraud.ftc.gov. Identity theft victims can report it online at https://www.identitytheft.gov.

HERE to HELP: Have a consumer question you'd like us to help you with? Leave a message with David Bruce at 814-870-1736, send an email to david.bruce@timesnews.com or send mail to 205 W. 12th St., Erie, PA 16534.

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Erie County sees less fraud, identity theft in 2022: David Bruce