FTC chair warns against scam tactics after viral column

Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Chair Lina Khan issued a warning on scam tactics in the wake of a viral column from New York Magazine’s The Cut.

“Being the victim of a scam can be devastating,” Khan said in her thread. “A reminder that nobody from @FTC will ever give you a badge number, ask you to confirm your Social Security number, ask how much money you have in your bank account, transfer you to a CIA agent, or send you texts out of the blue.”

Khan’s thread followed a Thursday column from The Cut that went viral in which the publication’s financial advice columnist discussed being scammed out of $50,000 by people posing as employees of the FTC and CIA. 

“Scams where fraudsters pose as the government are highly common,” Khan continued in her thread. “Last year Americans lost $2.7 billion to impersonator scams.”

Khan also linked to a FTC website for reporting fraud, as well as information on scams and identity theft from the agency: ReportFraud.ftc.gov.

“When you report a scam, the FTC can use the information to build cases against scammers, spot trends, educate the public, and share data about what is happening in your community,” the FTC says on its website.

A majority of respondents in a November Gallup survey said they were worried about being tricked by a scammer. Fifty-seven percent of respondents in the survey said they frequently or occasionally worried about getting tricked by a scammer or giving them access to a financial account, coming in second behind identity theft in crime concerns among Americans.