Jimmy Patronis is the chief financial officer for the state. Monday’s Federal Trade Commission report revealed that fraud among consumers increased by 70% in 2021 compared to 2020.

“Last Year Florida was ranked fifth in all states for fraud reports. Floridians were hit by an estimated $331.3million. Patronis said that fraudsters are constantly finding new ways to steal money.

Patronis said that scams are easily avoided by conducting research and only visiting trusted websites. Patronis advised against disclosing personal information.

The FTC received more than 2.8 million fraud reporting last year. Imposter scams were once again the most prevalent type of fraud. Next were imposter scams.

Last year, consumers reported losses of more than $2.3 billion due to fraudsters. This is an increase from $1.2 billion in 2020. Online shopping caused losses of $392 million, up from $246,000,000 in 2020.

Patronis’ Office shared tips from Consumer Reports on how to avoid fraud

Trust your gut. Scammers often urge you to act immediately. Take the time to think about the message or offer you received and consider what it means.

* Don’t respond: If you aren’t sure who the caller is or who sent it, you can ignore them or contact the organization to verify their identity.

* Always confirm what you click before clicking. If in doubt, do not click on links in emails or text messages. These links could compromise your security. Clicking on an email link can reveal the entire URL. This can be useful to identify if the link is fake.

Pay carefully: It’s important that you pay with care when using peer-to-peer payments like Venmo and Cash App. Steven Baker is an international investigation specialist with The Better Business Bureau. He advises against sending money to anyone who checks you.