A new study shows that Utah is doing a little better than most states when it comes to being victims of COVID-19-associated scams. Utah ranks No. 32 for the most complaints filed with consumer protection agencies among the states.
Nationwide, coronavirus scammers are about to surpass a milestone of tricking Americans out of $100 million. The number of coronavirus scams have more than doubled in nearly every state since March — when the WHO declared a global pandemic — to July.
In the month of July, Utah residents filed 646 coronavirus related fraud complaints to the Federal Trade Commission. This is up 104 percent from the month of March when 316 complaints were filed. SocialCatfish.com released a study titled "State of Coronavirus Scams in America" based on data from the FTC.
The five most-targeted states as of mid-July include California, Florida, New York, Texas and Pennsylvania. Nationally, the FTC has registered more than 150,000 reports of fraud costing victims $98.3 million.
