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North Dakota consumers submitted 3,181 fraud reports in 2023, according to newly released data from the Federal Trade Commission. The state’s consumers reported losing more than $15.66 million to fraud, with a median loss of $500.

The FTC’s Consumer Sentinel Network is a database that receives reports directly from consumers, as well as from federal, state and local law enforcement agencies, the Better Business Bureau, industry members and nonprofit organizations. Reports from around the country about consumer protection issues – including identity theft, fraud and other categories – are a key resource for FTC investigations that stop illegal activities and, when possible, provide refunds to consumers.

Across all types of reports, the FTC received 5,598 reports from consumers in North Dakota in 2023.

The top category of reports received from consumers in North Dakota was imposter scams, followed by identity theft; online shopping and negative reviews; prizes, sweepstakes and lotteries; and credit bureaus, information furnishers and report users.

Nationally, consumers reported losing more than $10 billion to fraud in 2023, up from $8.8 billion in 2022. Consumers reported losing more money to investment scams – more than $4.6 billion – than to any other category in 2023. The second highest reported loss amount came from imposter scams, with losses of $2.7 billion reported.

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. Rounding out the top five fraud categories were prizes, sweepstakes, and lotteries; investment related reports; and business and job opportunities.

Sentinel received 5.4 million reports overall in 2023. Of these, more than 1 million were identity theft reports received through the FTC’s website for reporting identity theft.

The FTC uses the reports it receives through Sentinel as the starting point for many of its law enforcement investigations, and the agency also shares these reports with approximately 2,800 federal, state, local, and international law enforcement professionals. While the FTC does not intervene in individual complaints, Sentinel reports are a vital part of the agency’s law enforcement mission.