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Federal Trade Commission warns of scams

This Oct. 24, 2016, photo shows dollar bills in New York. Fraudsters are increasingly picking up the phone and trying to steal your money by pretending to be a government worker or a family member in trouble. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)
Mark Lennihan/AP
/
AP
This Oct. 24, 2016, photo shows dollar bills in New York. Fraudsters are increasingly picking up the phone and trying to steal your money by pretending to be a government worker or a family member in trouble. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)

The Federal Trade Commission said scammers are using the names of real employees to deceive consumers.

This scam is costly. The average loss to FTC impersonators has increased from $3,000 five years ago to $7,000.

The Federal Trade Commission said it will never contact consumers to demand money. It will never tell consumers to move money to protect it, tell them to buy gold bars or send them to a Bitcoin ATM.

If you receive a call from someone claiming to work for the Federal Trade Commission asking you to do any of these things, it is a scam.

You can report suspected fraud at the FTC's fraud report website.

Emily is a reporter for WUFT News who can be reached by calling 352-392-6397 or emailing news@wuft.org.