CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas —
A new report from the Better Business Bureau shows that phishing scam reports nearly doubled in 2023 from the year before.
As for this year, first quarter numbers show the reports are on track to exceed last year's.
The Federal Trade Commission reports that in 2023, consumers lost more than $10 billion to fraud. A couple billion of those dollars were lost due to imposters or phishing scams.
Some of those fraudsters even scammed people right here in the Coastal Bend.
"The losses are extreme, right here in Corpus. People think 'It's not going to happen to me.' but it does. It happens to our neighbors and to our family members, so we have to be very vigilant," regional director of the Better Business Bureau Katie Galan said.
In 2022, Galan says there was a loss of well over $1 million in Corpus Christi.
"It's also really important to remember that only about three to five percent of people who are actually scammed make those reports. So, when we're looking at all these dollars lost, it's a drop in the bucket."
It can be easy for a scammer to pose as your bank, cell company or even the IRS. When in doubt that it's really a business you're familiar with, Galan says it's a good idea to call the official number for the respective business.
It's also important that you don't fall for the scammer's scare tactics. That’s a strategy that often get people to hand over their private information.
"They try to threaten legal action, or they try to say that they're going to get law enforcement involved if you don't pay this fee,” Galan said. “They try to really kind of scare you in that way, and they also try to get you to act very quickly. That's one of the top methods in a scammer."
To avoid being scammed, Galan says ignoring and reporting any phone call, text or email that is unsolicited is a good rule of thumb to follow.
“Even if something looks legitimate and you're thinking, 'Well, they're saying I need to subscribe to this.' Or 'They're saying I my account was compromised.' and even if it looks legitimate, the best thing to not reply to that correspondence that you received,” Galan said.
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