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The Dark Nexus Between Internet Culture and Scam Culture
As I survey the evolving landscape of the internet, a disconcerting reality emerges — the escalating nexus between internet culture and scam culture. The statistics from 2022 alone send a chill down my spine. A record-breaking $8.8 billion lost to scams in the US, marking an unfathomable increase of 30 percent from 2021, according to the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC). To further underscore the gravity of this, in 2020, the losses stood at a comparatively modest $3.5 billion. This exponential escalation, over 150 percent in just two years, signals an ominous trend. Even the usually unflappable US Attorney General Merrick B. Garland described the situation as ‘overwhelming’. The tenacity and evolution of these digital criminals have clearly outpaced our defenses.
Peeling back the layers, I notice another unsettling trend. While overall scam reports slightly dipped from 2.9 million to 2.4 million, individual losses have skyrocketed. The average victim in 2022 lost $650 to scams, up from $500 the previous year. Investment scams led the pack in terms of costs, inflicting losses of more than $3.8 billion, double the amount from 2021. With an average loss of $7,144 per victim, the depth of this financial wound is hard to fathom. Hot on its heels were impersonator scams, which conned victims out of $2.6 billion.
