The FTC has recently released some statistics about COVID-19 scams. There have been over 16,000 cases of Coronavirus-related reports. Over 12 million dollars in losses have been reported with the average loss being $570 per report. 46.3% of the reports that resulted in a loss were reported between 1/1/2020 and 4/12/2020. Residents in California have been targeted the most, followed by residents in Florida, New York, and Texas. Both the FTC and IRS have previously issued warnings about scammers using the COVID-19 pandemic to steal money, personal information, and push malware onto unsuspecting users through fake emails, phone calls, texts, and social media posts. With stimulus checks coming soon to many Americans, it’s important to continue to be extremely cautious of all COVID-19 related emails, calls, texts, and posts they may receive. It would be best to avoid clicking and opening these things, and to instead always check official government and organization websites for any updates and information.  For more information, feel free to check out the link below.

Source: US consumers report $12M in COVID-19 scam losses since January