Be aware of this scam that's hitting the tri-state.

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Americans Lose Billions to Scams Every Year

It's easy to think "well this won't happen to me," but some scams have gotten so realistic, that they catch you when you have your guard down.  According to the FTC in 2021 Americans reported over $5.8 billion in losses to scams.

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Federal Trade Commission data shows that consumers reported losing more than $5.8 billion to fraud in 2021, an increase of more than 70 percent over the previous year.

The FTC received fraud reports from more than 2.8 million consumers last year, with the most commonly reported category once again being imposter scams, followed by online shopping scams.

Prizes, sweepstakes, and lotteries; internet services; and business and job opportunities rounded out the top five fraud categories.

Imposter scams are the most common scams that people fall for, so what are imposter scams? The FTC describes imposter scams as a scam where someone will pretend to be someone you trust, like your bank, your energy company, social security, etc.. and they do this to try to convince you to give them money.

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One Imposter Scam is Hitting the Tri-State

Imposter scams are the ones that seem to get Americans money more than any other scam, so it's important to be aware of the latest imposter scam hitting the area.  According to the Evansville Police Department the scammer calls and pretends to be CenterPoint Energy, and they seem to be targeting elderly people in the area.

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Here is what EPD had to say about the scam on Facebook:

Scam Alert:

It has been brought to our attention that someone is calling local residents and posing as an employee of Center Point Energy. The scammer seems to be targeting elderly individuals and is trying to get personal information. The number that is being used is 1-800-419-2938. When the number is called back, a male will answer and will give various names and claims to be an employee of Center Point Energy. This is NOT a legit number for Center Point Energy, and we have confirmed that it is a scam phone call.
If you ever get a phone call that seems fishy and they say they are calling from a business like CenterPoint Energy, you can always hang up and call CenterPoint Energy on the number listed on their website that way you can ensure you are talking to CenterPoint.
For more information on what to do if you've been scammed, and ways you can avoid getting scammed, the FTC has a lot of really great information, here.

LOOK: The biggest scams today and how you can protect yourself from them

Using data from the BBB Scam Tracker Annual Risk Report, Stacker identified the most common and costly types of scams in 2022.

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