Cong. Mike Kelly | Official U.S. House headshot
Cong. Mike Kelly | Official U.S. House headshot
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- On Tuesday, May 23, U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly (R-PA) will hold a live toll-free telephone town hall to help Pennsylvanians fight fraud and prevent scams. Representatives from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Department of Homeland Security's Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency will be on hand to answer questions from constituents and offer tips to prevent scams and how to protect your financial information.
Participants will have an opportunity to ask questions and receive valuable information about ways to protect their personal data during the one-hour town hall. Fraud and scams cost Americans nearly $9 billion in 2022.
"My office has received numerous calls from constituents who remain incredibly concerned about, or have even fallen victim to, scams and fraud," Kelly said. "Our goal with this live telephone town hall is to give Pennsylvanians the tools necessary to fight back and to protect their personal information at a time when scams and fraud are on the rise. We are bringing in a team of experts who will be able to provide tips to keep yourself safe. We hope you can join us!"
DETAILS
Who: U.S. Representative Mike Kelly & officials from the Federal Trade Commission and Dept. of Homeland Security
What: Live telephone town hall on fighting fraud and protecting personal information
When: Tuesday, May 23, 2023 at 6:00p.m. ET
Pinless Participant Dial-In: 855-531-1063
Livestream: Facebook.com/MikeKellyPA
BACKGROUND
Americans lost a record-breaking $8.8 billion to scams in 2022, up 30% over 2021's losses, according to AARP. In March, an Erie County man was a victim after scammers stole $80,000 from him. Scams include fraud, identity theft, and new phone scams using cryptocurrency.
Of the 2.4 million scam reports submitted last year, impostor scams were most common, followed by online shopping scams; scams involving prizes, sweepstakes and lotteries; investment scams; and business and job opportunity scams.
According to the FTC, texts were the most common contact method criminals used for scams (22 percent), followed by phone calls (20 percent) and emails (19 percent). Further, the highest losses were incurred through investment scams — a total of more than $3.8 billion, double the amount lost to such schemes in 2021, with a staggeringly high median loss of $7,144 per victim.
Original source can be found here.
Alerts Sign-up