Fraud Center Blog

Scammers almost always hide their identity, and imposter scams are one of the most common types of scams or fraud because the category is fairly broad. These happen when the scammer pretends to be a friend, relative, celebrity, politician, businessperson, government agent, delivery person or company representative.

Some types of imposter scams are so prevalent that they have their own name, such as the grandparent scam (which doesn't actually always involve a grandparent) and romance scams (which sometimes involve platonic rather than romantic relationships).

According to the Federal Trade Commission's (FTC) 2023 Consumer Sentinel Network Data Book, about 20% of people targeted by an imposter scam in 2023 lost money, and the median loss was $800. The FTC also reported that government imposter scams in particular led to a massive increase in losses during the first three months of 2024, with median losses of $14,740.

Now that scammers can use AI, it's more important than ever to be skeptical when someone contacts you, especially if they try to scare you or offer you a gift or investment opportunity.

Email and Text as Preferred Contact Methods for Imposter Scams

The FTC reports that the percentage of imposter scams that start with a phone call has decreased from 67% in 2020 to 32% in 2023. Text messages and email are becoming a preferred method of first contact.

For example, the scammers might impersonate a company and send a message or email about a fake security alert, renewal, invoice, discount or tracking error. There are even multi-party scams, where the first scammer directs you to an accomplice who poses as a government agent or bank employee.