The Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) battle against impersonation scams has included the removal of websites that impersonated the FTC itself, the agency said in a Thursday (Oct. 29) press release.

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The FTC sent letters to domain registrars and other website providers that resulted in those companies taking down 19 websites that impersonated the agency over the past year. The agency has also reported and had removed social media pages that impersonated the FTC or its officials, according to the release.

The FTC also said in the release that since its Impersonation Rule went into effect in 2024, the agency has conducted 14 enforcement actions that secured $80 million in consumer redress.

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The Impersonation Rule gives the FTC stronger tools to combat scammers who impersonate businesses or government agencies and allows the agency to file federal court cases that seek redress for injured consumers and civil penalties against the scammers, according to the release.

Scammers targeted by FTC law enforcement actions under the rule include ones impersonating a government agency, a debt collector, a substance use disorder-treatment clinic, a debt-relief firm, a tax debt-relief firm, a student loan debt-relief firm and a credit repair firm, per the release.

“Imposter scams have been the top reported fraud category over the past several years with consumers reporting billions in losses,” Christopher Mufarrige , director of the Bureau of Consumer Protection, said in the release.

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