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The Better Business Bureau Serving Metro New York issued some alarming news to mark National Consumer Protection Week. In 2024, business impostor scams ran rampant. BBB Metro New York has observed an unfolding pattern of complaints and Scam Tracker reports about fake or impostor businesses in certain business categories, allegedly using similar tactics to steal money and/or personal information (subjecting its victims to potential identity theft).
In one notable pattern, consumers have filed reports with BBB about a series of companies that have apparently posed as legitimate medical equipment suppliers. These companies allegedly submitted large bills to Medicare or private insurance for products and supplements that the consumers say they never ordered or received. In a number of cases, the reported businesses claimed New York City addresses, but did not seem to exist at the locations claimed.
BBB Metro NY has also seen an ongoing impostor pattern involving multiple fake online florist shops, some of which appear to be connected. Several of these phony florists claimed to have Long Island addresses, but did not appear to be in operation at the claimed locations. BBB has received scam reports and complaints from thousands of consumers who needed flowers in a hurry and found a professional-looking website offering enticingly low prices. These consumers told BBB that moments after they placed an order, it was canceled - and in many cases, they could not get refunds or reach the business at all.
“Over the past year, we have seen an emerging pattern in complaints and scam reports about impostor businesses,” said Claire Rosenzweig, President and CEO of BBB Metro New York. “These scammers may imitate any type of business using similar tactics and often pretend to have New York addresses. We urge you to do your research to verify the businesses as real and reliable. Some of these fake businesses do not exist anywhere; some use names similar or identical to those of established companies; and in one case, scammers seem to have bought a real business and used it to commit fraud.”
To mark the Federal Trade Commission’s National Consumer Protection Week, which runs from March 2-8, BBB Metro New York released statistics on both the top ten complaint categories as well as the top scams of 2024. On March 4, 2025, BBB Metro New York hosted a media conference featuring information about impostor scams and other trending scams. BBB was joined at the event by the FTC, as well as other federal, state, and city agencies and nonprofit organizations, all of which shared details about the most recent scam types as well as consumer tips.
Full information on the data released by BBB Metro New York is available on the resource page located here: National Consumer Protection Week 2025 resources.
This page will be updated soon with a video recording of the media conference for National Consumer Protection Week, which features remarks from the nine collaborating organizations.
BBB.org has Business Profiles on more than five million businesses throughout the U.S. and Canada, including over 160,000 in the New York Metro area. These complaints and reviews give a good snapshot of consumer satisfaction – and dissatisfaction – with various industries.
BBB Metro New York’s top complaint and scam highlights for 2024 include:
The top three complaint categories:
- Online retailers, which rose dramatically to number one, with 13,910 complaints. That’s more than twice as many as in 2023, when this category ranked third with over 6,700 complaints.
- Financial services and insurance came in at number two, with 12,790 complaints, generally consistent with 2023.
- Health, beauty and fitness was number three with 7,138 complaints – again, similar to 2023.
Rounding out the top 10 complaint categories for BBB Metro NY in 2024 were: Apparel, Department and General Retail Stores; Hobby, Leisure, and Entertainment; Telecommunications; Publishing and Media; Travel; Automotive; and Professional and Business Services.
The top scam categories for BBB Metro New York:
- Online purchases, the top scam category with 1,195 scam reports comprising $632,644 in losses.
- Employment, the second leading category with 776 scam reports totaling almost $1.7 million in losses, which is up dramatically from $692,000 cited as losses in the previous year.
- Phishing, the third leading category with 376 scam reports, and over $125,000 in losses.
On March 3, 2025, the BBB Institute for Marketplace Trust issued its annual “Risk Report” summarizing total consumer reports from both the U.S. and Canada to BBB’s Scam Tracker service. This report contains a wealth of valuable scam data and can be downloaded at: bbbmarketplacetrust.org/riskreport.
Consumers can visit BBB.org to submit complaints and reviews, check out a business, learn more about scams and how to avoid them, and find additional consumer tips. Additionally, consumers can report scams to BBB.org/ScamTracker.
