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Every week, join Sydney Waters as she helps you navigate life as a smart consumer. You'll cover everything in avoiding the latest scams, including phishing emails, medical equipment fraud, understanding layaway, hiring a reputable tax preparer, and even digital spring cleaning. Add to your toolbox and flip through your Consumer Handbook Thursdays during NPR’s Morning Edition at 6:42 a.m. and 8:42 a.m., only on KRCU.

Consumer Handbook: Online Purchase Scams Become Riskiest Scam In The Wake Of COVID-19

BBB Institute for Marketplace Trust

"Online Scams Rise During COVID-19 Pandemic: 2020 BBB Scam Tracker Risk Report" focuses on the impact of scams in the wake of the pandemic and the demographic groups most at risk.

Adults ages 18–24 reported the highest median losses (at $150) and the highest likelihood of loss (at 56.6%) to BBB Scam Tracker in 2020, according to the Better Business Bureau. Previously, older age groups consistently lost higher median dollar amounts to scammers year over year, even while young adults tended to lose money more often. This year, the financial loss reported by those 18-24 was equal to that of adults 65+. 

More scams were perpetrated online, and yielded the highest likelihood of financial loss in 2020. This is likely connected to consumer habit shifts since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic; in a survey of over 5,000 individuals that reported scams to BBB Scam Tracker in 2020, 43.1% said they spent more time online due to the pandemic, and 57.1% said they purchased more online because of the pandemic. 

Credit Better Business Bureau
2020 BBB Scam Tracker Risk Report: Data at a Glance

The risk of financial loss also rose significantly in 2020. Nearly one of every two reports to BBB Scam Tracker (46.7%) noted a financial loss, with two-thirds of reports (64.7%) resulting in financial loss being online purchase scams, which was the top riskiest scam in 2020. 

Online purchase scams were the most common scam reported to BBB, comprising 38.3% of all scam reports. 

Pet and PPE-related online purchase scams also spiked during the pandemic.

Another way scammers take advantage of younger adults in particular is by utilizing a payment method less familiar to younger generations: checks. Fake check scams were the second most risky scam for adults ages 18-24 in a year where payment via online payment systems rose across all age groups. Fake check scams yielded one of the highest median dollar losses per encounter at $1,679 in 2020.

 

Cape Girardeau native Whitney Quick is the former Regional Director of Better Business Bureau in Cape Girardeau, MO. She joined the Cape Chamber as Vice President of Programs and Leadership Development in May 2023. Quick is a graduate of Cape Girardeau Central High School and Southeast Missouri University where she majored in public relations.