By: Gretchen Andsager Americans now owe over $1 Trillion in credit card debt, it may come as no surprise that younger generations are finding themselves targeted by opportunistic scammers. A new report by BadCredit.org revealed 78% of millennials and Gen Z report being targets of debt collection scams. When it comes to the states dealing with the most debt collection scams, Texas had the sixth most debt collection scams at 48.5 per 100,000 people in 2023. States with the most debt collection scams ranked (per 100,000): 1. Georgia: 77.8 2. Delaware: 63.1 3. Florida: 61.6 4. Nevada: 59.1 5. South Carolina: 57.9 6. Texas: 48.5 7. Tennessee: 46.7 8. Alabama: 45. 4 & Louisiana: 45.4 9. Maryland: 44.0 10. North Carolina: 42.8 On average, young adults have lost $3,067 to scams so far in their lifetime and nearly half (46%) of millennials and Gen Zers are concerned about falling victim to a financial scam. In 2023, the FTC received more than 124,400 debt collection scam reports. Th e most common types of scams young adults report falling victim to? Phishing, identity theft , and mobile payment scams. How to Identify a Debt Collection Scam While debt collection is legal, there are important rights Americans have under the law and tips to help you identify a legitimate debt collector from a scam. Ac-cording to the FTC, debt collectors can call you, message you on social media, or send letters, emails, or text messages. However, a collectors has to give you validation information about the debt within five days of their first contact. They must tell you their name and mailing ad-dress, the name of the creditor you owe, how much money you owe, what to do if you don’t think it’s your debt, and your debt collection rights. Debt collectors are not allowed to harass, threaten, use profane language, lie, or call you more than seven times within a one-week period. To learn how to identify a debt collection scam, take a look at the full report and let me know if you have any questions! https://www.badcredit. org/studies/debt-collec-tion-scams-by-state/
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