Best Buy is most impersonated company by scammers, FTC says – see the top 10
FILE - A Best Buy and Geek Squad service vehicle in Louisville, Kentucky, on July 12, 2023. Photographer: Jon Cherry/Bloomberg via Getty Images
WASHINGTON - Best Buy and its Geek Squad tech support brand is the most impersonated among scammers, according to a new report from the Federal Trade Commission.
The newly released data, published on Friday, said the FTC received about 52,000 reports of scammers impersonating Best Buy or its Geek Squad, followed by about 34,000 reports about scammers impersonating Amazon.
PayPal was the third-most impersonated company with about 10,000 reports from consumers, the agency said.
Top 10 most-impersonated companies by scammers:
- Best Buy/Geek Squad
- Amazon
- PayPal
- Microsoft
- Publishers Clearing House
- Norton/Lifelock
- Apple
- Comcast/Xfinity
- Bank of America
- Wells Fargo
Meanwhile, consumers reported losing far more money to scammers impersonating Microsoft and Publishers Clearing House than any other company, according to the FTC.
People reported losing a total of $60 million to Microsoft impersonation scams and $49 million to Publishers Clearing House scammers, the agency said.
Scammers requested a variety of payment methods, including cryptocurrency and bank transfers, which were the top methods used by investment scammers, according to the FTC data.
The top payment apps and services people reported paying with were PayPal, CashApp and Zelle, while the most reported gift cards were Apple and Target.
The FTC recently finalized a new rule on government and business impersonation, which gives the agency "stronger tools to combat and deter scammers" who impersonate such organizations. The new rule enables the FTC to file federal court cases seeking to get money back to victims and civil penalties against rule violators.
This story was reported from Cincinnati.