05/24/2024
More than $46 million loss to fraud in Hawaii, according to FTC
Island News
HONOLULU (Island News) -- The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) released its latest numbers of Consumer Fraud and Identity Theft in Hawaii. The report showed that residents claimed to have lost more than $46 million to fraud in 2023.
And the median reported individual loss was $600 with more than 8,000 fraud complaints filed. But, the FTC notes these numbers are likely just a fraction of the fraud out there because it says a lot of scams go unreported.
Faye Chen Barnouw and Cristina Miranda from the FTC plus consumer partners report the top fraud categories in Hawaii include impersonator scams, online shopping, negative reviews plus, sweepstakes and lottery promotions.
"Business and government impersonator scams are the most common ones and business impersonator scams. They happen when someone pretends to be a well-known business like a business you've heard of like an employer or a tech support company. And they try to get your money or information. And we mentioned the increase in scam emails, which are mostly phishing emails. They're incredibly real looking," Miranda warned.