Illinois Is One Of The Most “At-Risk” States For Holiday Scams

Scammers are out doing their thing month in and month out, regardless of the time or season of the year. However, knowing how much shopping and bargain-hunting is going on right now, they're really zeroed in on potential victims.

Especially here in Illinois.

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This Year's Holiday Shopping Will Be Record-Setting, So Will The Amount Lost To Scams

And Illinois is ranked number six overall on the list of states losing money to scam artists, according to a new study by SocialCatfish.com. A record-setting $4.2 billion was stolen from Americans last year, and the residents of Illinois kicked in $150 million of it.

SocialCatfish.com reports that a record $207 billion is expected to be spent by online shoppers this holiday season as more consumers opt to shop from home to avoid crowds in stores. At the same time, COVID-19 led to a record $4.2 billion loss to online scammers last year with people spending more time online than ever before.

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Online Shopping Has Been The #1 Most Common Scam Reported To The FTC Nationally During The Pandemic

With 57,769 complaints nationally, online shopping is also the most common type of scam in 48 of 50 states except for Maine and Massachusetts.

I told you that Illinois is #6 overall in filing complaints over online shopping scams to the FTC, with over 1,900 complaints last year, and $150 million lost to scammers. The top 5 states in lodging complaints to the FTC, along with their losses, are:

1) California: 6,331 complaints/$621 million lost

2) New York: 3,702 complaints/$415 million lost

3) Texas 3,389 complaints/$313 million lost

4) Florida: 3,216 complaints/$295 million lost

5) Ohio: 1,913 complaints/$170 million lost

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