Your Moment of Trust brought to you by Hub for Podcasting and the Better Business Bureau of the Tri Counties.
Oct 20, 2022
This episode by BBB of the Tri-Counties reports about various scam types perpetrated online So far in 2022, scams perpetrated online are more prevalent (55%) than other delivery methods, with a higher percentage of people losing money when targeted (75%). When breaking out scams perpetrated via phone with a monetary loss, scams perpetrated via text message rose from 11% in 2015 to 30% in 2022. Scams perpetrated via text had a median dollar loss of $800 in 2022, higher than other reported means of contact. Text messaging was the most reported offline method used to push people online. “Carrots” appear to be riskier than “sticks,” according to our survey research. About 70% of respondents said they continued the online engagement because they hoped to gain something, sell something, or were curious to learn more. That’s compared to 30% who continued the engagement because they feared they’d lose something, were threatened, or thought there was an urgent situation they needed to address. The scam type with a monetary loss most often reported beginning online was online purchase scams (89%), followed by cryptocurrency scams (87%), romance scams (85%), investment scams (73%), employment scams (68%), and government grant scams (64%). The #1 place people reported being targeted by a scam was while browsing social media (25%), followed by online shopping (24%), email (14%), search engines (10%), and job search (7%).
A BIG thank you to Ayers Automotive Repair in Santa Barbara for sponsoring Your Moment of Trust.