FTC: Over 36,000 coronavirus fraud complaints with $24.4M in losses this year

New numbers from the Federal Trade Commission reveal Florida is once again one of the leaders in the country when it comes to complaints of fraud.

Since the beginning of the year, consumers have lost millions of dollars due to the coronavirus as scammers took advantage of the pandemic.

Robocalls have increased because scammers know more people are home and could be susceptible to fraud.

The FTC said that from the beginning of the year to May 5, 36,238 COVID-19 complaints were made that led to $24.4 million in fraud loss. Complainant lost about $503 on average.

Florida had the third-highest amount of complaints in the nation. The No. 1 complaint in Florida was fraud.

The FTC said people lost the most money to:

• Travel Fraud ($8.79 million)
• Online Shopping
• Text Messages
• Diet Products
• Internet Information Services

If scammers are calling you, report it to the FTC at https://www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov or the Florida Attorney General at http://www.myfloridalegal.com so the people behind the calls can be stopped.