The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) said Americans reported losing $148 million to gift card scams during the first nine months of 2021, following a significant increase compared to last year.
Almost 40,000 consumers reported falling victim to scams where gift cards were the chosen form of payment throughout the year.
The $148 million lost to scammers until the end of September 2021 amounts to more than the total losses reported in 2020.
This type of scam payments has increased every year during the last three years, now reaching staggering numbers both in the number of reports and the total amount of losses.
"Since 2018, both the numbers of consumers filing reports in which gift cards were the form of payment to scammers and the amount they have reported lost have increased steadily," the FTC
said.
"The FTC has resources for consumers, including information on how to contact gift card companies to try to stop payments to scammers at
ftc.gov/giftcards."
