April 1 - 15, 2019
PHILIPPINE ASIAN NEWS TODAY
BBB risk report
Every year, Council of Better
Business Bureaus, based in Arlington,
Virginia, releases an annual Risk Re-
port outlining the levels of risk for the
most prevalent scams across North
America. New numbers suggest that
employment scams, which ranked
number 4 on the 2018 National list of
Top 10 Scams affecting Canadians, is
actually the riskiest type of consumer
fraud in all of North America.
The Risk Report is based on
data supplied by consumers that sub-
mit their experiences to BBB Scam
Tracker. In 2018, consumers reported
a total of 50,559 scams to BBB Scam
Tracker, moving up from 47,000 in
2017. The information was analyzed
using the BBB Risk Index, a unique
algorithm that calculates exposure,
susceptibility, and monetary loss to
offer a more accurate assessment of
scam risk. The findings show signifi-
cant changes from last year, including
an increase in the number of employ-
ment scams and that this scam also
recorded the highest median mon-
etary loss.
“Since we began this report three
years ago, this is the first time that
one scam has dominated across so
many demographic subgroups,” says
Karla Davis, Manager for Community
& Public Relations at BBB serving
13
The Riskiest Scam in all of
North America - Employment Scams
Mainland BC. “It was the riskiest scam
in three of the six age groups, and for
both men and women. It was also the
riskiest scam for military families, vet-
erans, and students.”
Highlights from the Risk Report:
• Consumer susceptibility, that
is, the percentage of consumers who
lost money when exposed to a scam,
increased by 86.7 percent, with online
purchase scams capturing the most
victims. Online purchase scams made
up 20.6% of all the scams reported
to BBB Scam Tracker and posed the
greatest level of exposure for con-
sumers. Pets, automobiles, clothing,
cosmetics and electronics were the
top products reported for online pur-
chase scams.
• Scams occurring through
websites and on social media plat-
forms account for almost 50% of the
instances that led to monetary loss,
with 40% of victims using their credit
cards.
scams,
which
• Romance
ranked number 1 on the list of top
10 scams affecting Canadians, is the
riskiest scam for North Americans
ages 55 - 64.
• By gender, the top 3 riskiest
scams for men are employment, trav-
el/vacation and home improvement
scams; while for women, it is employ-
ment, online purchase and romance
scams.
• The riskiest scam for people
in the Western and Northern parts of
Canada was Emergency Scams, with
a median loss of $175; while for peo-
ple in the Northeast, it was Investment
scams, with a median loss of $162.
• Microsoft, Apple, Amazon,
Canada Revenue Agency, Facebook
and Better Business Bureau were
some of the most impersonated or-
ganizations.
The top 10 riskiest scams in
2018 were:
1. Employment Scams (up from
# 3 in 2017)
2. Online Purchase (down from
# 1 in 2017)
3. Fake Cheques / Money Order
(up from # 5 in 2017)
4. Home Improvement (up from
# 6 in 2017)
5. Advance Fee Loans (down
from # 4 in 2017)
6. Romance Scam (new to the
risk list, coming from # 11 in 2017)
7. Tech Support (no change)
8. Investment (down from # 2 in
2017)
9. Travel / Vacation (down from
# 8 in 2017)
Government Grants
10.
WWW.PHILIPPINEASIANNEWSTODAY.COM
(no change)
Regardless of the scam, scam-
mers often rely on the following tac-
tics:
• The promise of getting a
“great deal” (which is often too good
to be true);
• Pressure to respond immedi-
ately with offers that are time sensitive
and prices that “cannot be guaran-
teed”;
• Intimidation (for example,
“You are under federal investigation”
or “You will be arrested within one
hour unless you call this number”);
and
• Isolation, which aims to force
a decision without others’ opinions.
Scammers can also be very elo-
quent and personable, which can
defy the “bad guy” stereotypes and
increase the risk to potential targets.
Scammers are clever and are
always adjusting their tactics, so ev-
eryone is vulnerable. While BBB
Scam Tracker is helping us to identify
higher risks and debunk long-stand-
ing myths, we must not let down our
guard. For more information on spe-
cific scams and tips on how to avoid
them, go to Scam Tips. To report a
scam, go to BBB ScamTracker.