Facebook Marketplace, Zelle, WhatsApp, PayPal scams growing fast

Scammers on Facebook Marketplace, message apps and cash transfer apps have taken on new tactics and strategies to target consumers. While business impostor scams remain the No.1 phone or text scam in America, other scams have quickly entered the scene, according to the latest analysis from BeenVerified, 2022.

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“Scams that show fast growth are worth our attention, as they often become scams that dominate in years to come,” said Robert Lowry, the vice president of security at BeenVerified.

A multitude of new and old scam angles were reported, among them ones targeting peer-to-peer payment services and other platforms connecting users directly to one another.

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Facebook Marketplace tops list of scam complaints

The fastest-growing scam types in 2022 were Facebook Marketplace (up 184.8% from 2021) and P-2-P cash transfer apps Zelle (86%) and PayPal (31.8%), as well as crypto and romance scammers that use the popular phone and text message app WhatsApp (32.1%) to target their victims.

BeenVerified examined tens of thousands of scam calls and text complaints over the course of the year. The analysis found that overall business imposter scams are the number one type of scam by volume (15.1%), followed by romance scams (14.3%), which showed an increase of 10% since 2021.

Fastest-growing scams in 2022

Rank	Type of Scam	Percentage change 2021-2022
1	Facebook Marketplace	184.8%
2	Zelle	86.0%
2	Tax/IRS	55.4%
4	WhatsApp	32.1%
5	PayPal	31.8%

BeenVerified warns consumers to be careful of business impostor scams, which comprised 15.1% of all scam messages. Scammers impersonate legitimate businesses like Amazon, Apple and other name-brand companies to appear reputable to their target, only to then steal their personal or financial information.

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Top scam messages in 2022

Rank	Type of Scam	% of Comments
1	Business Imposter	15.1%
2	Romance	14.3%
2	Bank/Credit Card	10.3%
4	Debt/Loan	6.6%
5	Free Money	6.4%

How to help protect yourself from phone scams

If a text, call, or email feels like it might be a scam, here are tips to help stay secure online:

Don’t respond to the message. Responding to messages alerts the scammer of a valid number and someone willing to talk—this can cause more attempts to solicit information. If a text or call is presumably legitimate, find the company’s support number and call them back directly.
Don’t click links. Links can be connected to malicious software, such as ransomware, spyware or a computer virus.
Don’t provide personal information. Any personal information, such as a birth date, credit card security code or even the last four digits of a Social Security number, could give scammers the last piece to the puzzle they need.
Don’t give someone remote access to your device. Never hand over control of a computer or device, unless the owner of the device initiated contact with the company.
Don’t pay with gift cards. A legitimate business will never ever ask a shopper to pay by gift card.

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About BeenVerified

BeenVerified’s mission is to help people discover, understand and use public data in their everyday lives. BeenVerified and our associated websites curate dozens of public data sources and proprietary data sets to give people easy and affordable access to billions of public records.

Contact information:
Kerry Sherin
PR Manager
press@beenverified.com

– Globe Newswire, New York

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