SEATTLE — With tax season well underway, the Better Business Bureau of Washington is warning consumers about the seasonal rise in “government imposter” scams.
The Better Business Bureau (BBB) said these types of scams involved people pretending to represent government agencies all in an effort to steal consumers’ personal information and money.
“A consumer recently reported to the BBB’s Scam Tracker a situation where they received a text message from what was supposedly the United States Postal Service, that said their package is not deliverable,” said Logan Hickle of the BBB of Washington. “The text instructed this person at home to click on a link and pay to get their package delivered at another time.”
This scam reported to the BBB Scam Tracker is a typical route criminals will take to get consumers to enter payment information, according to Hickle.
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From the 2021 Scam Tracker Risk Report, the BBB said government impostor scams increased from 13th to 8th place in riskiest scams for consumers.
Government Impostor Scams were also the second most reported scam type by businesses in the same report from March 2022.
To see the quick tips from the BBB of Washington to avoid these scams, click the video player above.
To view the BBB Scam Tracker, visit its website here.
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