Newly released Federal Trade Commission data show that consumers reported 2.6 million fraud cases last year and that they lost more than $12.5 billion, which represents a 25% increase over the prior year. The report includes 50,000-plus reported cases in Georgia including nearly 500 in metro Gainesville which includes all of Hall County.
According to the FTC’s data book, the nationwide number is not driven by an increase in fraud reports, which remained stable. Instead, the percentage of people who reported losing money to a fraud or scam increased by double digits. In 2023, 27% of people who reported a fraud said they lost money, while in 2024, that figure jumped to 38%.
In Hall County, imposter scams accounted for the most contacts, 81, followed, in order, by credit bureaus and information furnishers, banks and lenders, online shopping and negative reviews, debt collection, auto related, privacy and data security and cyber threat, investments, and credit cards. Area law enforcement agencies are constantly sending out Scam Alerts, warning of a variety of con artists who are out to get your money.
Consumers reported losing more money nationwide to investment scams—$5.7 billion—than any other category in 2024. That amount represents a 24% increase over 2023. The second highest reported loss amount came from imposter scams, with $2.95 billion reported lost. In 2024, consumers reported losing more money to scams where they paid with bank transfers or cryptocurrency than all other payment methods combined.
“The data we’re releasing today shows that scammers’ tactics are constantly evolving,” said Christopher Mufarrige, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. “The FTC is monitoring those trends closely and working hard to protect the American people from fraud.”
A full breakdown of reports received in 2024 is now available on the FTC’s data analysis site at ftc.gov/exploredata. These data dashboards break down the reports across a number of categories, including by state and metropolitan area, and also provide data from a number of subcategories of fraud reports. New this year is a data dashboard showing more detail on fraud reports received for each state broken down by age.
The Federal Trade Commission works to promote competition and protect and educate consumers. The FTC will never demand money, make threats, tell you to transfer money, or promise you a prize. Learn more about consumer topics at consumer.ftc.gov, or report fraud, scams, and bad business practices at ReportFraud.ftc.gov. Follow the FTC on social media, read consumer alerts and the business blog, and sign up to get the latest FTC news and aler