By Noah Rothstein
According to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) data, consumers have lost more than $500 million due to COVID-related fraud.
The FTC has received more than 567,000 reports from consumers related to the pandemic since the beginning of 2020.
Over 60% of the complaints were associated with fraud, citing an aggregate loss of $501 million through July 22. According to the agency, the typical person lost about $370.
“Scammers always take advantage of disasters, manmade or natural,” said Susan Grant, director of consumer protection and privacy at the Consumer Federation of America.
According to a consumer complaint survey report conducted by the Consumer Federation of America, price-gouging was the most commonly reported pandemic-related issue in 2020. Consumers complained of being charged excessive prices for sought-after products such as hand sanitizer, toilet paper, and masks.
Evictions, canceled events and travel, and childcare were also among the reported complaints associated with COVID-19.
“The complaints they receive are only the tip of the iceberg,” Grant said. “I think it’s safe to say it’s an awful lot of people.”
Online shopping accounted for the most significant number of reported scams to the FTC, with more than 53,000 complaints, or about 16% of the total that reported fraud.
Many were victims of “opportunistic websites” where people were sold popular items but never received them.
Victims lost the greatest amount of total money, $77 million, to vacation and travel scams, say FTC officials. Most of this fraud relates to refunds and cancellations, the agency said.
