(Toledo, OH) A Better Business Bureau study shows scams are devastating victims financially and emotionally in new and creative ways.
The Toledo BBB took part in a nationwide look at sweepstakes, lottery, and prize schemes-- and what the consumer protection agency found is frightening. Those kind of scams bilked $117 million out of more than 500,000 Americans and Canadians last year alone.
The BBB received nearly 2,900 sweepstakes and lottery-related complaints at its ScamTracker site in last year alone. The average loss is 500 bucks.
Senior citizens are the most frequent target of such scams, the majority between the ages of 65 and 74, and suffer the largest losses. Many of the scams originate in Jamaica, Costa Rica, and Nigeria through cold calls, pop-ups on a smartphone browser, social media, and text messages.