On today’s Business Beat, Jeff Sloan talks about the Federal Trade Commission’s report that in 2021 consumers lost $770 million to social media scams.
Tune in to the Business Beat below to find out who is being scammed most and how:
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Good morning, Paul! We all know that e-commerce is seeing a huge upswing these days. We also know that doing business online requires a basic ability for consumers to feel safe and comfortable going online and making purchases by providing credit card information and entering personal data. Name, address, phone number, et cetera. And ultimately if consumers don’t feel comfortable online, billions will be lost and missed opportunities to conduct business. Well now a new report indicates that a clear need to be extra vigilant and careful about where and how we conduct business online has just been released and it’s concerning. The Federal Trade Commission reports that in 2021 consumers lost $770 million to social media scams. That’s up by 18 times versus just four years ago. It seems that the smarter we get the bad guys are always just one step ahead of us, Paul. The FTC indicates that those now being targeted are younger, with consumers between the ages of 18 and 39 reporting fraud at two and a half times higher than those above the age of 40 and social media is where those scammers are targeting this younger audience. Now most reports of fraudulent activity on social media involve people losing money to online shopping scams. That is someone who ordered a product they saw marketed on social media, and then that product never arrives, even though they paid for it. Other common scams to watch out for on social media these days? They’re highly focused on getting unsuspecting people into fake investment opportunities, particularly now that many cryptocurrency exchanges are being opened up and many are being marketed on social media. Now look, we all know the incredible momentum with e-commerce these days and how it is serving most consumers so well, but that incredible momentum can’t continue if consumers can’t feel safe. I’m Jeff Sloan, founder and CEO of startupnation.com, and that’s today’s business beat on the Great Voice of the Great Lakes, WJR.
