PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – Marking National Consumer Protection Week, the Better Business Bureau has released its 2022 Scam Tracker Risk Report – measuring the riskiest scams from 2022.
In Oregon, the BBB received 600 reports to the Scam Tracker Risk Report, with a median loss of $121, according to Logan Hickle of the BBB.
Hickle added, “while we received 600 reports, what’s actually taking place in the state of Oregon is bound to be much, much higher.”
According to the BBB report, nationally, the number one riskiest scam type reported by consumers in 2022 — for the third year in a row — was online purchase scams. The BBB says these scams comprised 32% of scams reported to the organization with 75% of victims losing money in targeted online scams.
The second-riskiest scam of 2022 were employment scams, which made a resurgence with an increase in dollar loss from 2021, Hickle said. In 2021, the BBB reported the median dollar loss from employment scams was $900 — which jumped to $1,500 in 2022.
The third-most risky scam was cryptocurrency scams followed by home improvement scams – which had the same median dollar loss as unemployment scams – and advance-fee loan scams with a median dollar loss of $800, Hickle said.
The organization also saw a nearly 40% increase in text message scams year over year. Hickle says these text scams often pose as a government agency trying to contact the victim or pose as a shipping scam.
“It’s somebody saying, ‘We have this item available for you. We were not able to deliver it. Click here, fill out this form to get it delivered another time,’” Hickle explained. The BBB advises people to not click on any links in a text message and to not call or text back the phone numbers scammers provide.
Hickle recommends consumers call merchants or government agencies themselves to verify their information is needed.