INDIANA — The public needs to remain vigilant against all kinds of schemes and scams, according toe the Better Business Bureau.
“Employment scams, which peaked at #1 on our list in 2019, are seeing a resurgence,” said Melissa Lanning Trumpower, executive director of the BBB Institute for Marketplace Trust, which produced the 2022 BBB Scam Tracker Risk Report. “This is a high-touch scam in which perpetrators spend more time with their targets in the hope of stealing more money from each target. Employment scams tied for the highest median dollar loss of all scam types. Home improvement scams, #4 on our list of riskiest scams, also had a median dollar loss of $1,500.”
The Indiana Department of Workforce Development (DWD) was the 11th most impersonated entity alongside major corporations such as Amazon, Microsoft, PayPal and Facebook. Last year, BBB Central Indiana issued a warning about a scam making its rounds of con artists posing as DWD to prey on unsuspecting individuals.
“To be listed as one of the top impersonated organizations last year goes to show its prevalence,” stated BBB Central Indiana President and CEO, Cathy Armour. “Scammers made up a program called ‘Back2Work.’ They send a text message claiming people could expect a considerable amount of money through a direct deposit by clicking the provided link.”
It can be difficult to trace who’s behind this phishing scheme which tries to lure people into giving personally or financially sensitive information. However, one thing that’s for certain is the DWD will not ask to verify information through text messages.
Online purchase (shopping) scams remained the #1 riskiest scam type in 2022.
Cryptocurrency scams dropped in 2022, from second to third riskiest because of a decline in reported scams, susceptibility (the percentage of those who lose money when exposed to a scam), and median dollar loss. Romance scams reappeared on the list this year, rising from #14 in 2021 to #7 in 2022 because of an increase in reports and a higher median dollar loss.