Pennsylvanians lost $224.2 million to scammers in 2023; three times the losses in 2019
Fraud and identity theft cost Pennsylvanians about $224.2 million in 2023, a little more than three times what fraudsters took from the Keystone State in 2019, according to data from the Federal Trade Commission.
Out of over 5.39 million reports to the FTC’s Sentinel Consumer Network of state and federal law enforcement, tax and other agencies last year, about 189,776 reports came from Pennsylvania, ranking it sixth in the nation behind Georgia.
California, Texas and Florida ranked highest for total cases, at 525,283 reports, 428,938 reports and 427,117 reports filed, respectively.
Identity theft alone made up almost 21% of the types of fraud reported in Pennsylvania, followed closely behind by fraud involving consumer reporting groups that collect and sell credit information. Credit bureaus, information furnishers and report user scams made up about 38,033 reports last year, or about 20%.
Credit card fraud was the most frequently reported form of identity theft nationwide, in Pennsylvania and the Philadelphia Metro Area — which includes parts of New Jersey, Delaware and Maryland.
New plans for Barn Theater: Plan to redevelop old Barn Theater site in Doylestown receives approval from zoning board
Credit card scam reports were more often the result of scammers creating new accounts (381,122 cases reported) rather than stealing existing accounts (44,855 cases reported).
Over 14,019 cases were reported in the census designated area that covers Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery and Philadelphia counties in Pennsylvania; Burlington, Camden, Gloucester and Salem counties in New Jersey; New Castle County in Delaware; and Cecil County, Maryland.
You can dig deeper into the FTC Consumer Sentinel data here.
The Philadelphia area reported about 123,438 cases of fraud last year, ranking it eighth highest out of about 391 metro areas across the country.
The Sentinel Network has been tracking consumer fraud and theft reports since 1997, with the information used by its member agencies “to spot trends, identify questionable business practices and targets and enforce the law.”
Despite only 27% of the more than 5 million national fraud reports resulting in a loss, about $10 billion was reported stolen by consumers nationwide in 2023.
Cyberattack downed AT&T?: What caused the AT&T outage? Company's initial review says it wasn't a cyberattack
Younger people, ages 20 to 29, reported losing money to fraud more often than older Americans, ages 70 to 90, but those older consumers also reported losing more money overall.
One in five people lost money to “imposter scams,” where people impersonate government agencies or businesses. About $2.66 billion was lost to those scams last year, with half of those cases losing up to $800.
More information about reporting fraud to the FTC can be found at https://reportfraud.ftc.gov.
You can also contact your state’s Office of the Attorney General or county offices for consumer protection or weights and measures.
This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: Dig into FTC data showing how Pennsylvanians got scammed in 2023
