Just the Facts...
>> A study conducted by Princeton Survey Research Associates revealed that one in six Americans report being a victim of fraud.
>> A study conducted by the U.S. Postal Service found that 30 percent of consumers reply to contest scams.
>> Fewer than 10 percent of consumers who admit being swindled ever report the crime.
>> An estimated 700 telemarketers in the U.S. employ 3 to 5 million persons and make 18 million calls per day. Ten percent of these telemarketers are not legitimate.
>> A United States House subcommittee on health and long-term care noted that people over the age of 65 comprise 12 percent of the U.S. population but represent roughly 30 percent of scam victims.
>> Just over half (54%) of American adults say they would hang up the phone when someone they didn't know presented them with a fabulous opportunity to make an investment.
>> Over one in six Americans (17%) say they find it very or somewhat difficult to resist a telephone sales pitch. More blacks and hispanics than whites find it difficult to resist a telephone sales pitch. People with less than a high school education and people living in households with an annual income under $15,000 are also more likely to find a telephone sales pitch difficult to resist.
>> Just over half (51%) of those people who report being cheated out of their money attempted to contact the company which cheated them. However, only nine percent of those who were cheated by a company got their money back.
>> Less than one-third (31%) of individuals who have been cheated out of their money reported the matter to anyone.
>> According to the FBI, Americans lose over $40 billion per year from telephone fraud.
>> Ninety-two percent of all American adults have at one time or another received a postcard or letter in the mail informing them that they have definitely won a fabulous prize. Nearly one-third (53.6 million people) have responded.
>> Five percent of all American adults, or over 9.2 million people, report that they have experienced fraudulent misuse of a credit card such as VISA, MasterCard, or American Express.
>> One in three (34%) American adults have been contacted by telephone about purchasing a financial investment.
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