Recently, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued its annual report about law enforcement actions resulting in refunds to scam victims.  The report, which was for the year 2023, indicated that the FTC paid more than 324 million dollars in refunds back to scam victims.  These funds are obtained through court judgments against the scammers.  The largest payment for the year went to consumers who were charged illegal fees when they tried to cancel their Vonage phone plans.  While the report is very positive in nature, one negative aspect of the report is the indication that in only one of the cases where funds were being returned to scam victims did all of the victims get their funds.  In the other refund programs the percentage of people actually getting their refunds was as low as 44%.

TIPS

The key to getting a refund is being aware of the refund programs and payments.  The best way to do this is to regularly check on the first page of the Scamicide.com website where we have a section entitled “FTC Scam Refunds.”   I will report on refunds as they are made available, but it also a good practice to check out this section of the website on a regular basis to make sure you are not missing out on a payment.

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