WASHINGTON – A recent report highlights that 51% of respondents in Washington admitted to falling for a scam. Of these individuals, 18% lost money, 14% shared personal information and another 14% felt emotionally drained by the constant threat.
Timothy Chambers, a local father, shared his concerns about the impact of scams.
“Especially if you have a family and children and it can scare you into another position where you move to a new place just just to be protective of your family,” said Chambers.
The report, reflecting on 2023, revealed that Washingtonians lost nearly $250 million to online scams. It emphasized that no particular group is immune.
“I’ve gotten pictures of, of brutality on my phone from from people sending scamming pictures, like trying to scare me into a sending in money,” Chambers said.
This year, 96% of Washingtonians expressed worry about scams.
“It almost makes you not want to have a phone. It makes it makes you want to just not to cut off communication,” he said.
Among those surveyed, only 1 in 5 felt confident in spotting a scam, despite 93% having encountered one recently through text, email or online interaction. Additionally, 66% of Washingtonians reported difficulty in distinguishing what is real online.
Amanda Singleton, a consumer advocate from Light Curve, emphasized the severity of the situation.
“That’s really frightening. You know, $100 could have a really negative impact to a particular individual. The same that $100,000 could to another. So I, I think it is, alarming and we should all be concerned,” said Singleton.
Singleton noted that scammers are increasingly using AI to enhance their deception.
“They typically have a sense of urgency layered into them and a promise for something that the consumer really wants,” she said.
The sophistication of AI technology adds a layer of difficulty in detecting scams.
“AI is helping them grammatically. And then they’re also able to use AI to create, imagery, look and feel copycats of logos so that it looks more authentic to the consumer when they open the message,” said Singleton.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) reported that younger generations, including Gen X, Millennials and Gen Z, are 86% more likely to lose money to online shopping scams than older adults.
“The goal that they’re all after is to collect your personal information so that they kind of have your digital imprint, and they can start using your credentials, for whatever malicious activity they’re looking for,” said Singleton.
