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The rise of fraud in the United States continues apace, costing the US $159 billion in one year alone, according to new research.
The 2023 State of Scams report by Feedzai in partnership with the Global Anti-Scam Alliance (GASA) shows that nearly a quarter (23%) of US citizens parted with their money after falling victim to fraud despite an overwhelming majority (69%) saying they felt confident in their ability to spot a scam before reaching that stage.
This highlights the sophistication of tactics deployed by scammers and, with further data from the research showing the volume of such scams is also high, there is a great risk to consumers.
Nearly three quarters (73%) of those surveyed encountered a scam at least once a month, with a shocking 15% saying they encountered one every single day.
Gmail and Facebook were by far the most prominent sources of threat, with 53% and 52% of respondents respectively identifying these platforms as the ones on which most scammers tried to contact them last year.
With Instagram (22%), WhatsApp (16%) and Google (17%) following closely behind, it is clear that all related parties – big tech, banks, telcos regulators and consumers themselves – must work together to combat and overcome malicious actors.
With each victim losing an average of $2,663, amounting to 0.6% of total US GDP, more must be done.
Urgency and clarity on approach is key
In recent Internet Crime Report by the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3), the figures show an alarming increase in financial losses due to cybercrime, despite a decrease in the number of complaints.
The last FBI IC3 Internet Crime Report reveals a staggering number of complaints amounting to 800,944, with losses exceeding $10.3 billion.
Despite a decrease in complaints by 5%, dollar losses have risen significantly by 49%.
“The contrasting trends can be attributed to the evolving nature of cybercrimes,” says L. Wes Quigley, FBI IC3 unit.
“While there’s a decrease in the number of complaints, cyber actors are deploying more sophisticated and high-impact tactics that are leading to higher financial losses. Scams related to investments and cryptocurrencies are examples, where fewer incidents can lead to substantial losses.”
“The findings are an important reminder of the scale of the fraud problem facing us all, and this is not just a problem in the US,” continues Jorjj Abraham, Managing Director at GASA.
“Consumers are savvy, but fraudsters are increasingly sophisticated in their approach, and that means we need an increasingly sophisticated solution to match. Technology is really the only way forward if we’re going to get ahead of the game.
If we combine cutting edge tech that prevents scams before they happen with an approach in which we’re not afraid to work together to share insights and knowledge around scams, we can tackle the alarming statistics revealed in our research.”
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