Security Awareness – Help Users Keep Themselves Safe from Scams

Given the blurred lines between work and personal online activities, it’s not only important to keep users aware of cyber threats that put our organizations at risk, but it’s equally important to make security awareness personal and enable users to keep themselves safe from online harm.

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) sent out a warning Tuesday of scammers impersonating its employees to steal thousands of dollars from Americans. The warning comes as median financial losses attributed to FTC impersonation scams have surged during the last five years, from $3,000 in 2019 to $7,000 in 2024. This social engineering tactic exploits identities of agency personnel coercing victims by phone, email, or text messaging to wire or transfer money. Last year alone, the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) received over 14,000 government impersonation complaints which led to more than $394 million in financial losses, a 63% increase compared to 2022.

To help identify these fraudulent activities, the agency has released guidelines and urges consumers to report any FTC impersonation scams through ReportFraud.ftc.gov. The agency reminds users that it will never contact anyone to demand money, threaten to arrest or deport, or promise a prize.

Members are encouraged to share this widespread FTC scam with employees to remind them that threat actors do not just use impersonation tactics to steal money from our organizations but have no compunction in scamming us out of our personal finances too. For more information about the recent surge in these scams, visit Bleeping Computer.