Wisconsin Better Business Bureau warns of text, phone scams amid new study

MILWAUKEE - The Wisconsin Better Business Bureau (BBB) has released a study that analyzed reports to show how scammers use fraud and are now providing regulatory suggestions and tips for consumers to avoid scams. 

Blueprint of a scam study 

By the numbers:

The BBB's scam tracker has shown that almost 60% of all Americans encounter a scam every day, with that number increasing every year. Americans lost nearly $70 billion in financial fraud last year. Additionally, 98% of Americans agreed that these kinds of scams pose a threat to national security and 82% believe that the government is doing too little to prevent scams, according to Gallup. 

BBB has run a tracker on scams since 2022 and reports totaled over 433,000, according to the agency. BBB used AI to analyze these reports and look into any patterns that scammers may be using to get a better insight into their methods. They then released the study "Blueprint of a scam" with the information that was gathered. 

The full study can be seen below. 

Key findings in the study, according to the BBB, include: 

• Scam calls and texts have become the number one way in which fraud is carried out.
• Scammers use legitimate services like phone numbers, robocallers, websites, artificial intelligence, and social media to hoodwink consumers.
• Platforms typically are unable to remove scammer content in a timely enough matter to prevent fraud.

Data across North America:

What can be done? 

What you can do:

The BBB has outlined things that consumers can do in order to better protect themselves against fraudsters' texts and calls. Some of these include: 

• Allowing unknown calls to go to voicemail
• Remembering that new numbers don't always mean it's a new scam – the same scammers will sometimes change their phone numbers, often while attempting the same scam on the same consumers
• Turning on your phone's spam filter to prevent a large amount of scam calls from getting through to your device
• Educating yourself on scams and the most current methods scammers use

The BBB also has offered suggestions for government regulators. Here are the things the BBB suggests they do to help prevent scams: 

• Strengthen and expand the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) and Telemarketing Sales Rule (TSR) to broaden the types of calls included and give text messages equal protection as calls
• Remove the $50,000 loss requirement on private suits under the TSR, so individuals may be motivated to pursue action
• Broaden the "Know Your Consumer" rules to better monitor who is using services and create a record for future investigations
• Make space in Section 230 to combat fraud and allow TCPA and TSR related laws to operate

The BBB reminds consumers that they can visit their website to verify a business or file a complaint. More information on scams through the BBB can be found here.