Better Business Bureau reveals the Top 10 local scams of 2022

One of the world's famous business authors Harvey McKay often repeatedly quotes: "Learn from the past, but don't live there. Build on what you know so that you don't repeat mistakes."

Those are good words for the new year and to avoid some of the top scams reported in 2022 to our local BBB Scamtracker. Unfortunately, fraudsters keep coming up with variations to their schemes and ways to find younger generations to victimize.

These tactics, along with the pandemic, have helped keep online purchase scams dominating the No. 1 position for the third year in a row as the most menacing scam in our area. Always look up any website or company before you do business with them, and a great place to start is with BBB.org. Many fake selling sites are designed to steal your money and identity, and many can vanish overnight.

The No. 2 scam is also history repeating itself with phishing scams for the second year in a row. Phishing scams remain to flood the email inboxes of consumers and are a dangerous weapon cyber criminals use to infiltrate businesses.

The No. 3 scam reported is counterfeit products - escalating from the number four position last year. Many fake websites are popping up, and consumers report paying for items they never receive, or cheap knock-off merchandise is delivered.

To no one's surprise, employment scams are at the No. 4 position. With remote working, a rough economy, and more and more layoffs in the news, this type of scam could be even more significant in 2023.

Scammers have been notorious for taking advantage of any current events and news. Unfortunately, the pandemic has been followed by a troubled economy, supply chain issues, and a feared recession. This environment has allowed fraudsters to prey on people's emotions and find victims in our top local scams.

A new entry to this year's Top 10 at No. 5 is advance fee loan scams. This scam has been on lists in the past and is most likely returning because of inflation and a tough economy. More people are looking for loans and find solicitations via email, texts and pop-up ads for enticing offers, which often lead to loan scams. Many of the scammers scheme up plots based on special programs in the news.

After missing last year's list, COVID-related scams reappeared in 2022 in the No. 6 position. This new massive nationwide wave of alleged scams was mainly related to complaints regarding COVID testing pop-up site clinics. BBB of Chicago led a major campaign to alert and warn people across the country.

At No. 7 this year, sweepstakes and lottery scams are a consistent top 10 scam. The first major lottery prize in 2022 of over $1 billion only encouraged scammers to prey on victims' hopes and dreams as they continued to inflict heavy losses.

Rounding out the Top 10 this year were credit card scams at No. 8, a return to the top list of home improvement scams at No. 9, and identity theft at No. 10.

Falling off the Top 10 this year, tech support scams, cryptocurrency scams, fake invoices and debt collection scams.

It should be noted that there is a catchall category called "Other," which contains a garden variety of scams. Many hot topics in the other category include various issues, from romance and pet/puppy scams to airline issues, concerts, tickets, legal services, maintenance issues and social media marketplace issues. A top online shopping category is pet/puppy scams, which have increased money loss. According to a new BBB study release, victims have suffered average record losses of just over $600.

There is another appropriate quote from Warren Buffett, "What we learn from history is what people don't learn from history."

While New Year's resolutions can come and go, please consider an easy one for 2023. Even if you know about a scam and how to avoid it, some in your life may not. Please consider sharing your knowledge with friends, family and neighbors of all age groups.

Fraud can hit anyone in any age group; younger demographics are the top victimized age group. As they say, "Sharing is caring."

Wishing you a happy, healthy, and prosperous new year; I look forward to your feedback.

• Steve J. Bernas is President and CEO of the Better Business Bureau and can be reached at sbernas@chicago.bbb.org