The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is our nation’s main aggregator of fraud reports from hundreds of sources within their Consumer Sentinel Network program. The FTC issued its annual report in February, and the latest shows another steep increase in fraud losses, totaling $8.8 billion in 2022. Compared to 2019, the year before the pandemic when $2.4 billion were reported lost to fraud, this is an increase of 366%.

Several factors are contributing to the increase, and they are overpowering efforts to fight back against these crimes. We will discuss this dynamic as well as new scams and schemes targeting us all.

Jay Haapala is Associate State Director of Community Engagement with AARP Minnesota and leads their Fraud Watch Network program. He and AARP Fraud Fighter volunteers have met with hundreds of community groups, law enforcement officials and fraud investigators, continually learning how people are being targeted by these criminals.

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