Briefing

Contact and Payment Methods Used for the Top Five Categories of Scams


Abstract: In recent years, the amount of money U.S. consumers have lost to scams has increased sharply. The contact methods scammers use to reach consumers and the payment methods defrauded consumers use to pay scammers vary depending on the category of scam. However, both the use of social media as a contact method and the use of cryptocurrency, payment apps, and bank transfers as payment methods have increased across the top five scam categories.

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Bibliographic Information

Provider: Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City

Part of Series: Payments System Research Briefing

Publication Date: 2025-09-03

Pages: 9