BBB Releases Top 10 Scams List for MN and US

ST. CLOUD -- It was a year filled with adventure, new friends and for some, unfortunately, getting scammed.

The Better Business Bureau of Minnesota and North Dakota has released their list of top 10 scams in Minnesota and the United States for 2018.

For the North Star State, online purchase scams took the number one spot. The BBB says most of these scams involved a buyer ordering and paying for a specific product and never actually receiving it. A lot of the items for sale in these scams were cars, pets, tickets for major events, clothes and cosmetics. Online purchasing scams we're ranked as #2 on the top 10 list of scams in the United States.

Employment scams came in at #1 in the United States with 50,000 being reported to the BBB's Scam Tracker. Employment scams were the fourth most common scam in Minnesota.

Check out a full list of the most common scams below. All of these were ranked based on reported scams to the BBB's Scam Tracker.

Top 10 Scams in Minnesota in 2018:

1. Online Purchases
2. Phishing
3. Social Security and Tax/IRS Collection Schemes
4. Employment Scams
5. Tech Support Scams
6. Debt Collection Scams
7. Fake Checks/Money Orders
8. Counterfeit Products
9. Fake Invoices
10. Identity Theft

Top 10 Scams in the United States in 2018:

1. Employment Scams
2. Online Purchases
3. Fake Check/Money Orders
4. Home Improvement Scams
5. Advanced Fee Loan
6. Romance Scams
7. Tech Support Scams
8. Investment Scams
9. Travel/Vacation Scams
10. Government Grant Scams

The BBB Scam Tracker came out in 2015. Since then over 150,000 scams have been reported. If you need to report a scam follow the link below.