FTC: Nevada consumers reported losing more than $138 million to scams

Last year, Nevada consumers reported losing more than $138 million to scams according to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).

The agency noted that approximately 24,331 fraud reports were filed by Nevadans in 2024.

As stated in a press release, Nevada consumers reported losing a total of $138,538,256 to fraud, with a median loss of $519.

The data comes from the FTC’s Consumer Sentinel Network, which analyzes reports submitted by consumers, as well as from federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies, the Better Business Bureau, industry members, and non-profit organizations.

“Reports from around the country about consumer protection issues, including identity theft, fraud, and other categories are a key resource for FTC and other law enforcement agencies’ investigations that stop illegal activities and, when possible, provide refunds to consumers,” the release noted. “Across all types of reports, the FTC received a total of 73,271 reports from consumers in Nevada in 2024. The top category of reports received from consumers in Nevada was credit bureaus and information furnishers; followed by identity theft; imposter scams; banks and lenders along with debt collection.”

New State Complaint Data

The reports went on to state that this year, the FTC introduced two new online dashboards that provide information about fraud reports at the state and local levels.

The first is a dashboard with age-related information broken down by state.

The dashboard shows both overall age numbers for each state and the top subcategories of fraud for each age group in each state.

The second new online dashboard provides information on all subcategories of fraud in each state, which gives users a clearer picture of the types of fraud affecting consumers on a state-by-state basis.

Fraud Losses Up Nationwide

Nationally, consumers reported losing more than $12.5 billion to fraud in 2024, which is a 25 percent increase from $10 billion in 2023.

Consumers also reported losing more money to investment scams, with a total of $5.7 billion in 2024.

The second highest reported loss amount came from imposter scams, with reported losses of $2.95 billion.

“The FTC received fraud reports from 2.6 million consumers last year, with the most commonly reported being imposter scams, followed by online shopping scams,” the reports said. “Business and job opportunities, investment-related reports, and internet services rounded out the top five fraud categories.”

Response from Nevada AG’s office

The Pahrump Valley Times reached out to the Nevada attorney general for comment on the scams and received the following response from Deputy Communications Director Alcinia Whiters.

“Our office constantly works to fight fraud in two very important ways: (1) consumer outreach and education and (2) investigation and prosecution,” Whiters stated. “We also work with federal and state partners regularly to investigate complaints of fraud, scams and schemes that defraud Nevadans. We take any complaint we receive seriously, and we encourage Nevadans to both follow our office to keep up-to-date on new scam tactics and to report any scam to our office.”

The Sentinel database, according to the FTC, received 6.5 million reports overall in 2024.

Of those, more than 1.1 million were identity theft reports received through the FTC’s IdentityTheft.gov website.

In addition to using consumer reports in its law enforcement investigations, the FTC also shares reports with federal, state, and local law enforcement professionals across the country.

While the FTC does not intervene in individual complaints, Sentinel reports are a vital part of the agency’s law enforcement mission and its work to warn consumers about fraud and scam trends.

The Federal Trade Commission works to promote competition, stop deceptive and unfair business practices and scams, and educate consumers.

Report fraud, scams, or bad business practices at ReportFraud.ftc.gov. Get consumer advice at consumer.ftc.gov.

Also, follow the FTC on social media, subscribe to press releases, and read the FTC’s blogs.