US Pandemic Scams, Fraud Cost Consumers $382 Million

As COVID-19 stimulus funds continue hitting bank accounts and mailboxes, a new Federal Trade Commission (FTC) report is alerting people to beware of pandemic-related scams, which have so far cost taxpayers about $382 million.

Since January 2020, more than 217,000 people have reported pandemic-related fraud to the FTC as of Tuesday (March 23), federal data shows, with the average loss totaling roughly $330. Senior citizens were victimized most often, the data shows, with median losses of $500 for people in their 70s and $900 for those in their 80s.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) handled 542,300 complaints last year related to the coronavirus, an uptick of 54 percent over the previous year, according to CNBC. The agency said that in excess of 3,000 complaints mentioning COVID have come in since April 2020.

“The pandemic has been among the most disruptive long-term events we will see in our lifetimes,” said Dave Uejio, the CFPB’s acting director, per CNBC. “Not surprisingly, the shockwaves it sent across the planet were felt deeply in the consumer financial marketplace.”

The majority of the complaints to the CFPB — 58 percent — were about issues related to credit and consumers. Some 15 percent of complaints had to do with debt collection, followed by credit cards (7 percent), checking or savings (6 percent) and mortgages (5 percent). Not every reported issue had to do with COVID-19.

“While people are scared about their health and finances, con artists are having a field day,” Lucy Baker, a consumer defense associate at advocacy group U.S. PIRG, told CNBC.

In a PYMNTS interview, Dena Hamilton, senior vice president of global product management Featurespace, said that financial institutions (FIs) have to deal head-on with the fact that instant and real-time payments can’t be easily undone and present numerous challenges to stopping fraud. She stressed that it’s critical to take a proactive approach to fraud monitoring and protection.

Matthew Coy, vice president of information technology for fast-casual pizza chain Donatos Pizza, told PYMNTS that credential stuffing attacks — where fraudsters use stolen ID data to infiltrate accounts — can make it hard for restaurants to tell the difference between real customers and thieves.

The FBI’s IC3 division, which is composed of the Internet Crime Complaint Center and the Recovery Asset Team, has been at the forefront of fielding reports about online fraud for more than two decades.